Capturing hearts and minds: preparing an organization for effective implementation of behaviour-based safety

Abstract

Many companies fail to successfully implement behaviour based safety (BBS) programmes within their organisation. Often failures are linked to the implementation strategy rather than the programmes themselves. BBS can be introduced without a clear rationale and can create fear of change and lack of trust, leading to low employee buy-in. ESB is Ireland's premier electricity utility and one of Europe's leading engineering and consultancy companies. This paper outlines the structure of a BBS framework at ESB which seeks to (i) facilitate employee involvement and (ii) build trust through leadership alignment. Combining best practice research from behavioural science and crew resource management, ESB's approach seeks to capture the hearts and minds for safety. Details of this approach are provided so as to enable leaders in high reliability industries to introduce BBS in a way that produces employee involvement and develops trust and leadership commitment.