Developing Efficient Workplace Safety Programs

The intervention in the present study consisted of a group meeting wherein employees at a small electronic components firm discussed the importance of using personal protective equipment (PPEs) and made a personal commitment to use a specific PPE (i.e., safety glasses) by signing a promise card. The "target response" (safety glasses use) increased from 84.7% during baseline to 93.0% following introduction of the promise card commitment intervention. A concomitant increase was also observed for safety belt use (from 12.8% during baseline to 35.1 % following the promise card intervention), a "non-targeted" response. Both safety glasses use and safety belt use eventually returned to baseline levels. The notion of functional response class suggests that behaviors are organized into clusters and that a variety of responses covary, presumably the result of similar reinforcement histories. The observed covariation among behaviors in this study suggests the possibility of incorporating this behavioral feature into the design of more efficient safety programs. Thus, interventions typically designed to impact one "target" behavior may be effective in changing other "non-target" behaviors. Implications of the obtained results are discussed and suggestions for future research, including development of cost effective and efficient safety programs, are offered.