Behavior- based safety, the main Strategy to Reduce Accidents in the Country: A case Study in an Automobile Company

Inrecent years, with the aim of reducingaccidents, useofthe behavior-based safetytechniqueshas gained significance. In the present pre- and post-test design quasi–experimental study, the unsafe behaviors of the workers in a car- making factory were evaluated using observation and safety behavior samplingmethod. After description of the unsafe behavior and based on the result of a pilot study and sampling accuracy to %5, 115 workers were selected and a total number of 9200 unsafe behaviors were observed. A questionnaire was used to collect different related variables including personal characteristics. Inthe second phaseafter3 monthsofintervention, includingtrainingworkersandsupervisors, safetysignsand the useofpunishmentandencouragement, observationswere repeated. The resultsindicatedthat workers inthe firstphase showed unsafebehavior up to13.9percent butinthe secondphasethe behaviordeclined to 9.04 percent. Amongthesebehaviors, poorergonomicconditionsandlackofprotective equipmenthad thehighestfrequency. The study detected the relation between the number of unsafe acts and level of education (p=0.04) as well as the history of accidents among the workers (P=0.001) as significant. The results showed the relation between the number of unsafe acts and age, duration of the employment and number of family as unsignificant. The resultsproved atendencyofbehavior-based safetyasthe mainstrategy forreducingthe unsafebehaviorand thuslowering theaccident rateinthe country.