Keeping Safety on Track

The Thanksgiving holiday is the busiest travel weekend of the year in the United States.  That got me thinking about transport safety, and what a positive approach can accomplish.

In my chapter on work, I discuss a famously successful study introducing a positive approach to safety at two pit mines--very dangerous workplaces.  This sort of "behavior-based safety" approach has taken off. (Note, however, that a number of different approaches have been described under that name, and not all are systems-, positives-, and science-based.)  My colleague Matt Normand runs a website with useful links to stories about the science of consequences, www.behavioral-science.org.  He discovered a recent article in Progressive Railroading magazine covering the introduction of this comprehensive safety approach at a railroad.  The full story is available by scrolling to the entry for November 15 on his website and clicking on the title, "Improving Railroad Safety by Instituting a Behavior-based Safety Culture."  I particularly liked the way in which workers at all levels were helping to shape the program.  Gotta keep 'em rolling--safely.

For my US readers:  Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend!