Behaviour-Based Safety (BBS) is a process that Northern Weldarc Ltd. has adopted and moulded to suit a safety partnership between management and employees. The safety and well-being of everyone in the workplace is based on observations focused on the actions of all employees and the working environment surrounding safe behaviours.
This continuously evolving process will improve the safety culture at Northern Weldarc Ltd. and increase situational awareness based on the human aspect of safety. It focuses on how people work, analyzes why they work in a certain way, and then applies a non-threating intervention strategy to eliminate unsafe behaviours; the basic approach being to remove the most common sources of workplace injuries or accidents, which are “human error.”
The BBS program requires the participation of all employees including management, regardless of position or years of experience. Health and safety are everyone’s responsibility at Northern Weldarc Ltd. BBS’s intent is to ensure that all employees’ attention is focused on their own and their peers' daily safety behaviours.
“The Stronger the Safety Culture, the Fewer Accidents and Incidents Occur.”
When the safety culture is strong and proactive, everyone trusts and supports their fellow co-workers to stop incidents and accidents before they happen. When individuals choose to work safely and genuinely care about the well-being of others, the safety culture will be strong. With a strong safety culture in place, based on the core values set out by the company, everyone benefits from a safer and more enjoyable workplace.
A proactive safety culture is created by the decisions and actions we make that result in positive evaluations. These evaluations take the form of safety audits, which may also include the Workers Compensation Board performance reviews (safety statistics), which can be used as prequalifications for up-and-coming contracts for the company. Above industry standard safety stats and WCB ratings impacts Northern Weldarc Ltd.’s ability to qualify for tendered scopes of work.
Not only does a positive safety culture affect who our potential clients might be, but it also affects all of us as individuals and our families. We all have an obligation to perform and produce outstanding work to the best of our abilities in a safe and secure manner. If a co-worker decides that they are willing to take risks, they need to understand that other staff members as well as their families can and will be affected by their lack of judgement, possibly leading to loss of work, an injury, or even PTSD from witnessing a horrific accident. One simple action or decision that leads to a negative event can have far-reaching, long-term consequences.
A BBS approach promotes interventions that are people-focused, incorporating one-on-one or group observations of routine work tasks, giving timely feedback on safety‑related behaviour, and then flowing up by setting goals to coach and mentor changes. These initiatives have a proactive focus that encourages individuals and their work groups to consider the potential for an incident and or accident to transpire by assessing if their own performance is safe or unsafe.
Our goal is not “fault finding”, but rather to acquire knowledge through open communication from the experience of others and to listen to new ideas to ensure that Northern Weldarc Ltd. is a safe and engaging workplace for everyone.
