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Key to Getting the Best from Behavior-Based Safety Coaching
Greater numbers of occupational injuries will be prevented when individuals work in teams to develop checklists of safe and at-risk behavior, use these checklists to observe work behaviors, then provide constructive feedback from these observations in one-on-one and group situations (e.g., Geller; Krause, Hidley and Hodson; McSween). Of course, those who receive behavioral feedback must believe the feedback. They need to feel good about reports of safe behavior and be willing to correct at-risk actions.
These aspects of behavior-based safety are often met by active resistance. "No way," some workers say. The thought of a co-worker watching them work and tallying observations of safe and at-risk behaviors sounds intrusive. Similarly, managers and safety directors often support the basic observation-and-feedback concept of behavior-based safety, yet contend, "Our plant is not ready for such a process."
What causes such active resistance to an interpersonal observation-and-feedback process? What is missing in a work culture that is not "ready" for this basic component of behavior-based safety?
Both answers involve trust. Lack of interpersonal trust causes resistance to an observation-and-feedback process, and interpersonal trust is the missing ingredient in a culture deemed not ready for behavior-based safety. This article explores the concept of interpersonal trust, introduces an assessment tool for its measurement and reviews basic strategies for building trust within a work culture.
WHAT IS INTERPERSONAL TRUST?
In the American Heritage Dictionary, the first definition of "trust" is "confidence in the integrity, ability, character and truth of a person or thing." "Interpersonal" merely limits the term to "person" or situations between people. This definition refers to behavior (as in "ability") as well as internal or person-based dimensions (as in "integrity" and "character"). As such, it is consistent with a measurement tool used to assess interpersonal trust in a work culture. This survey device (Figure 1) is based on research by Cook and Wall (39+).
The survey distinguishes between intentions and ability. In other words, one may be confident that a person means well, yet doubt his/her ability to complete the task at hand. In such cases, one trusts the person's intentions but is unsure that stated outcomes will occur-one doubts the person's ability to fulfill a promise.
This perception is...