Improving Process Safety Culture Through Behavioral-Based Process Safety

This blog post is the second in a two-part series on process safety culture. In Part 1, we explored the foundational aspects of process safety culture, including leadership’s role, past industry lessons, and the evolution of safety culture models. In this post, we will focus on Behavioral-Based Process Safety (BBPS) and how organizations can leverage behavioral approaches to drive a stronger, more resilient safety culture.

The Role of Behavioral-Based Process Safety

A robust process safety culture is crucial for preventing incidents in high-risk industries such as those that process oil, gas, and chemicals. While technical systems and regulatory compliance lay the groundwork for safety, it is equally important to foster a culture where employees actively participate in safe practices. Behavioral-Based Process Safety (BBPS) is a key strategy to achieve this, strengthening safety principles through leadership, communication, and day-to-day actions.

Process safety training is often conducted without a focus on safety culture as time is spent predominantly on technical aspects, which can limit its effectiveness. To support improvement, a one-hour Process Safety Culture Training is recommended to both introduce key safety concepts and reinforce existing knowledge. The training also connects these concepts to the CCPS Safety Culture Principles to ensure alignment across the organization. This repeated exposure helps all personnel build a shared understanding of process safety culture, leading to more consistent and proactive safety behaviors.

BBPS can be visualized as a three-legged stool, supported by three core components: human organizational performance, pre-incident investigations, and behavior-based safety observation programs. Process safety toolbox talks, Gemba Walks, and field conversations serve as practical tools for reinforcing these principles, engaging employees in critical safety discussions and fostering a culture of trust and proactive safety behavior. By integrating these practices into daily operations, organizations can cultivate an environment where safety becomes an inherent part of workplace behavior, rather than just a checklist item. We delve into practical examples and recommendations in the following sections.

Process Safety Toolbox Talks: Reinforcing Key Safety Messages

Regular process safety toolbox talks serve as a practical tool for reinforcing BBPS principles. These sessions provide a structured yet informal way to engage hourly operations and maintenance personnel in discussions about critical safety topics. Some examples include:

• Overview of Operational Excellence
• Normalization of Deviation
• Catastrophic Event Warning Signs
• Stop work and Emergency Shutdown Authority
• Incident Investigations
• Process Safety Initiatives

When conducted effectively, toolbox talks reinforce trust, create a shared understanding of safety risks and encourage employees to actively contribute to safety culture improvements. They can also often lead to tangible solutions through collaborative, cross-functional teamwork.

The Power of Gemba Walks: Observing Safety in Action

The Gemba Walk, a concept originating in the 1990s from Toyota’s lean manufacturing principles, plays a crucial role in BBPS. Gemba, meaning “the real place,” refers to going to the actual work site to observe processes in action. These walks allow leaders to:

• Identify potential hazards and safety barriers in real time
• Engage directly with employees performing high-risk tasks
• Gather insights into operational challenges and potential areas for improvement
• Proactively address safety concerns before they escalate into major incidents.

Field Conversations: Enhancing Engagement and Trust

One of the most effective ways to reinforce BBPS is through field conversations between leaders and frontline employees. These discussions focus on real-time observations, allowing employees to voice concerns, discuss risks, and propose solutions. These conversations are in tune with the types of questions asked as part of a pre-incident investigation in a human and organizational performance (HOP) program. The focus is to examine an operation to understand, from those directly involved, what can go wrong, what has gone wrong (near misses, for example), and what are the roadblocks or speed bumps that could prevent successful completion of the operation. Examples of effective field conversation topics include:

• Establish an Imperative for Safety: “Does the training prepare you to adequately perform this task?”
• Provide Strong Leadership: “How’s the LOTO going? Is there anything I can help you with?”
• Maintain a Sense of Vulnerability: “What risks are you looking out for today?”
• Understand & Act Upon Hazards/Risks: “What are you working on? What mistakes can happen during this task?”
• Empowerment in Safety Responsibilities: “Do operating procedures adequately cover this task?”
• Defer to Expertise: “I was talking by and saw your team going to torch off the bolts on the flange. I think the shop has a nut splitter if you want to give that a try. Might save you some time.”
• Ensure Open & Honest Communications: “Who are you communicating with when you do this task?”
• Strengthening Mutual Trust: “Thank you for using your stop work authority.”
• Combat the Normalization of Deviation: “Are you facing any pressure with this task—either now or in the past?”
• Learn to Assess & Advance the Culture: “How did the Job Safety Assessment go this morning for the welding on the hydrogen tank?”

These conversations align with CCPS safety culture elements and help establish trust, improve communication, and encourage proactive safety behavior. Field conversations extend beyond process areas to include work environments involving maintenance, contractors, engineers, and managers. When engaging with office staff, these conversations often center on management systems. Identifying pain points in these systems should prompt further investigation to uncover and address emerging threats.

Management Walkarounds: Strengthening Leadership Commitment

Management walkarounds take the concept of field conversations and Gemba Walks further by involving senior leaders. When managers actively participate in workplace safety observations, they:

• Bring a broader perspective to problem-solving due to their understanding of bigger process
• Foster stronger relationships between tiers in a workplace that may not normally interact
• Demonstrate a genuine concern and commitment toward their employees’ safety

This top-down engagement is vital in reinforcing the cultural shift necessary for BBPS success.

Management walkarounds take the concept of field conversations and Gemba Walks further by involving senior leaders to reinforce the necessary cultural shift.

When AcuTech is onsite performing culture assessments or supporting PSM system implementations, we schedule one-on-one walkarounds with managers for one hour and usually can spend 40-45 minutes in the field after introductions and sign-ins. We try to guide the conversation along process safety lines and will often have several specific topics to discuss in addition to general questions. As an example, subjects for a recent set of walkaround at a petrochemical site covered the following:

• Status of an effort to re-invigorate the locked open/locked close valve program
• Consequences of a recent spate of steam trap leaks
• Complaints from operators regarding radio frequency usage

It can be gratifying to hear a manager say that they will follow up on a topic or even take some action while we are in the field (coiling an unused hose that is running across a walkway or asking an operator for their opinion on a subject). These small interactions all work toward building a more common and more secure process safety basis.

Implementing a Structured Approach to BBPS

To successfully integrate BBPS into an organization, it’s essential to follow a structured approach that aligns with both safety objectives and organizational goals.

1. Obtain Leadership Approval: Ensure management buy-in and resource allocation for implementation by presenting the developed action plans and supporting data. Understanding separate ongoing initiatives will help leadership make informed decisions regarding priority and resource loading.
2. Collect Information: Gather employee feedback through field conversations, observations, and incident reports.
   Identify an open-minded individual to compile and classify the data.
3. Analyze Data: Identify common themes, root causes, and contributing factors leading to undesired behaviors and deviations.
4. Develop Solutions: Create action plans to address and correct any root causes and/or contributing factors identified from analysis. Evaluate root causes already being addressed to determine if supplemental action items are needed. Consider hourly operations and maintenance effects from the developed plans as well as union/management safety committee interests and other site or industry solutions with proven success.
5. Implement and Communicate Solutions: Share findings with the PSM committee, hourly operations and maintenance, union/management safety committee, and the corporate-wide PSM network. Incorporate changes into daily operations, and track improvements. Communication at this stage helps to show the full cycle of the BBPS efforts from data gathering through solution implementation.

By following these steps, organizations can ensure that BBPS principles are systematically applied, leading to meaningful improvements in safety performance. This structured approach also promotes continuous feedback and collaboration, making safety an integral part of the organization’s culture and operations.

Advancing Process Safety Culture Through BBPS

This concludes our two-part series on process safety culture. While Part 1 established the foundation by discussing leadership’s role and the evolution of safety culture models, Part 2 has highlighted how Behavioral-Based Process Safety (BBPS) can drive sustainable improvements. By integrating BBPS principles into daily operations through field conversations, toolbox talks, Gemba walks, and management walkarounds, organizations can cultivate a proactive and resilient safety culture.

At AcuTech, we specialize in helping organizations implement effective BBPS strategies tailored to their unique operational needs. As a proud member of the CCPS, AcuTech consultants have authored CCPS guidelines and publications such as Essential Practices for Creating, Strengthening, and Sustaining Process Safety Culture. This book presents a much-needed guide for understanding an organization’s working culture and contains information on why a good culture is essential for safe, cost-effective, and high-quality operations. Contact us to learn more about how we can support your journey toward a safer workplace.