Effectiveness of behaviour based safety interventions to reduce accidents and injuries in workplaces: critical appraisal and meta-analysis

Background: Behaviour-based safety (BBS) is one of the promising methods implemented in industry to reduce the incidence of accidents and injuries. Researchers have reported diverse BBS applications in various industries. The diversity of applications and results reveals a need for systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the overall effectiveness of BBS to improve workers’ safety and health. Objective: To quantitatively assess the effectiveness of behaviour-based safety (BBS) interventions in reducing accidents and injury occurrence in occupational settings. Methods: A critical appraisal was conducted to assess the methodological quality of study. A meta-analysis was also performed to identify the direction and size of the effect. Results: Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria with a poor to marginal methodological quality. Eight studies achieved a statistically significant reduction in accidents/injuries after conducting a BBS intervention. The overall metaSAR (0.60, 95% CI 0.72–0.97) displayed a statistical significance in reducing accidents/injuries. Conclusions: A statistically significant reduction in injuries/accidents was observed after conducting a BBS intervention in a workplace. However, this statistical significance should be interpreted with caution, due to the poor to marginal methodological quality of studies included in the meta-analysis. Reliable results require interventions with high methodological quality based on the specific needs of the workplace.