Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 17, 2017 FEATURES 25 HEALTH & SAFETY Behavioural analytics help boost safety SaskPower sees results through safety profiles, communication, metrics By Eric Irwin I n the power utility industry, power-line technicians work in and around potentially dangerous situations every day. A lack of proper supervision and a strict adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs) can mean unsafe practices and lead to a significant number of accidents and injuries. Accidents, beyond the human suffering component, increase liability insurance costs, drive up Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) premiums, and re- sult in more frequent government inspections or mandated closures. is translates into a substantial impact on a company's bottom line. So, it makes sense that orga- nizations such as SaskPower are working to reduce the number of workplace accidents by mak- ing safety a matter of corporate culture. And one way it's doing that is through behavioural analytics. Behavioural analytics tools of- fer managers a scientific method for identifying employees whose natural behaviour makes them predisposed to safety. As an example, safe employees in the mining and trucking indus- tries tend to be thorough, me- thodical, risk-averse and diligent — but not aggressive, according to research by Predictive Success. So by focusing their attention on employees who exhibit these traits, employers can place safety- conscious workers in the appro- priate roles. Executive teams should also analyze how these employees are managed. A connection between the behaviours of employees and their supervisors has been a com- mon thread throughout Predic- tive Success' safety studies. In fact, truck drivers at a cop- per mine who fit the established profile, and were managed by su- pervisors with a safety-first focus, had zero preventable accidents. Similar findings were found through a study of 383 drivers at a major national trucking firm. In this case, safety success resulted in fewer regulatory issues with the government. In looking at the obstacles to safety in the utilities industry, there is a direct link between cer- tain behavioural traits and work- place safety. ese traits were also seen in the mining and trucking studies. And there are three common workplace management themes that influence employee safety be- haviours: a pressure to get things done, clear communication and safety metrics. Pressure to get things done e pressure to "get things done now" can negatively influence employees to take risky short- cuts. is pressure can come from many places, such as an employ- ee's own family, her supervisors, or other work groups. At utility companies such as SaskPower, the pressure to get the lights back on falls on a number of work groups but, in most in- stances, it's the power-line techni- cians. And initial analysis showed power technicians with the right safety profiles were similar to workers in the mining and truck- ing industries. A full picture emerges when examining the statistics from the behaviour profiles of SaskPow- er's supervisors. ose with the right safe behaviour profile were detail-oriented, concerned about their employees, protective and focused on getting the job done according to proven systems and procedures. Clear communication e safest employees have natu- ral behaviours that motivate them to be very detailed-oriented and work "by the book." Consequently, any form of ambiguous communi- cation from their superiors could create doubt and stress over prop- er procedures. In turn, this could lead to unsafe decisions. SaskPower conducted a safety workshop to help supervisors un- derstand the measurable relation- ship between behaviour and safe- ty. Supervisors were taught how to read the behaviour profiles of their power-line technicians and identify areas of conflict with their own behaviour profile. With further coaching, the supervisors were able to adjust MEASURE > pg. 29 There is a direct link between behavioural traits and safety.

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