Behavior Based safety is more than just changing the behaviors of each worker one at a time. The object is to change the behavior of the entire work force from workers to supervisors and managers alike. The total work force needs to develop a sense of "community" in order to achieve the goal of a safer environment.

A number of opinions have been put forward to foster this sense of "community". The five keys that I like to look at are:

Diversity
Commitment
Consensus
Exposure
Positive Confrontation

Good managers by their nature are inclusive. Good managers also recognize that people with different backgrounds values, beliefs and ways of expressing themselves must work together for a safer environment. The collective input will achieve a higher standard of safe behavior for the group. This is summed up in the word diversity.

Commitment comes about when a work force recognizes that despite people's differences, they must commit to the common good by the continuous improvement of safety. A diverse work force must coexist for the common good.

A work force must work toward consensus. All levels of the work force must agree that safe behavior is the goal and only then can they move forward as one unit. Workers at all levels must learn to accept differences in backgrounds, values, beliefs and opinions. All employees must trust and be willing to trust each other to do what is best for the the "community".

All workers must be open and honest wit one another. Exposure to such openness may offend or hut some people. Unspoken feelings not ordinarily voiced when they are voiced need to be adequately resolved so they will not surface at a later time and undermine the decisions that impact "community" safety.

Positive confrontation is a civil method of fighting. Conflict will occur in any situation involving two or more people. Such conflict can be positive if everyone's intentions are focused on the continuous improvement in "community" safety. Such positive confrontation must be viewed by the "community" as part of the improvement process. The trick is to instill in the "community" a sense of the boundaries for handling the challenge of confrontation.