Safety Education Explains the Consequences
So, why did Bob change his behavior in the scenario we just read on the previous page?
What he saw influenced his immediate thoughts and feelings, which eventually made him a believer. His actions and experiences then reinforced his beliefs.
According to OSHA, safety education covers the 'who, what, where, how, and when' of safety. However, it should also explain 'why' safety is crucial for both employee and corporate success. In fact, explaining the 'why' might be the most important aspect to emphasize.
It's crucial to understand that the most common reason employees don't work safely is because they don't know 'why' it's important. Employees pay attention to what management considers important. If management doesn't highlight the importance of working safely, over time, employees may start to think it's not very important. To stress the importance of safety most effectively, employers need to educate employees about the consequences of their actions.
What are Consequences
Consequences are the 'events' that happen right after a behavior. These events depend on the behavior, meaning they only happen if that specific behavior occurs.
For safety education to have a lasting effect, it needs to focus on two main types of consequences:
- Reinforcers: These are consequences that lead to an increase in the behaviors they follow. For example, when employees are praised for their safety performance, it tends to increase safe behaviors.
- Punishers: These are consequences that result in a decrease in the behaviors they follow. For instance, if safe performance is ignored, there will likely be a decline in safe behaviors over time.
It's also key to highlight the natural and system consequences of behaviors.
- Natural Consequences: These happen naturally as a direct result of a behavior.
- System Consequences: These are given by an external source (like a person or the organization) in response to a behavior.
Let's take a closer look at natural and system consequences.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-4. What must safety education emphasize to be truly effective in the long term?
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