�鶹��Ƶ

Every general contractor balances the immense pressure of deadlines with the absolute need for safety. When deadline pressure trickles down to the field, workers may feel forced into risky decisions.

This can lead to accidents, injuries, property damage and other problems, which begs the question — when an incident occurs, does the GC immediately look for a worker to blame and punish — or do they examine the system that allowed the incident to happen?

Sam Olliges, Senior Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Coordinator for Landmark Structures, has embraced a Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) safety mindset as a more productive alternative to traditional safety thinking.

Old vs. New: Behavior-Based Safety vs. HOP

The traditional Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) model is essentially a model of blame and punishment. In other words, who is at fault, what did they do wrong and how can we change their behavior to fix the problem??

The purpose of the HOP approach is to understand why a worker’s actions made sense to them in the moment and determine what controls can be implemented to keep that decision and the negative consequences, from happening again.

HOP focuses on fixing systems to prevent incidents, not behavior modification or reactionary blame and punishment.

'Think of HOP like child-proofing a house.'

"Kids will be kids. They don’t try to get hurt, but they don’t always understand the risks of their behavior," Sam explains.

"For example, if a toddler tries to stick something into a light socket, it’s not realistic to change their behavior by explaining that this is a bad decision. Instead, parents place a piece of plastic into the light socket. That’s HOP in a nutshell.

“We don’t try to modify our kids’ behavior around what’s going on in our household,” Sam says. “We protect them from the negative consequences.”

Similarly, nobody on a job site likes to be told how to do their job. If risky activities or circumstances are observed, GCs can take steps to prevent negative consequences.

“If you look at fall protection, whether it be guardrails or restraint devices, they don’t prevent you from falling,” Sam says. “They prevent you from landing too hard or reaching the edge when falls happen.”

How Pressure and Deadlines Drive Risky Decisions

There is a body of that suggests a link between deadlines, time pressure, stress and risky decisions. Logically speaking, the intense focus on deadlines from leadership in the construction industry creates an environment where workers feel compelled, if not forced, to take shortcuts.

“If you prioritize operational progress over safety and even quality, you’re going to have more injuries,” Sam says. “If you take those pressures off the workers in the field…they work more efficiently and they end up meeting their deadlines anyway.”

Removing pressure may seem counterintuitive, but it allows teams to focus on the task at hand with clarity and purpose, minus the constant stress of meeting multiple deadlines over the course of a project.

Sharp End vs. Blunt End: Where Responsibility Truly Lies

When Sam first learned about HOP, he read “Do Safety Differently” by Dr. Sidney Dekker and Dr. Todd Conklin, two key figures in the development of HOP’s core principles. This book motivated Sam to study HOP and become a vocal advocate for HOP-based safety.

Conklin refers to the risk and responsibility dynamic between field workers and senior leadership as the “sharp end” of the stick and the “blunt end” of the stick.

• ---

  The Sharp End

  At this end of the stick are the workers in the field. They face the highest physical risk but have the least influence over the regulations, policies, procedures and deadlines that ensure work is completed in a safe, timely manner.

• ---

  The Blunt End

  At the opposite end are executives, regulators and upper management. They face the least physical risk but have the most responsibility and influence over the systems that dictate how work is done.

• ---

  The Takeaway

  Leaders and regulators at the blunt end are primarily responsible for making decisions about strategy, goals, timelines and Standard Operating Procedures. Consequently, the systems and preventative measures that lead to real, sustainable safety improvements must be driven from the blunt end of the stick.

The Actionable Solution: Bring Leadership to the Field

Executives and managers are experts in their leadership roles. Part of their job as leaders is to recognize that the field-level experts are, in fact, the workers in the field. Trust them, visit jobsites and listen to their feedback and advice.

“If you feel like you don't know whether your workers are experts in what they're doing, you're not with your workers enough,” Sam says. “They swallow a lot of the struggles that they deal with because they feel like no one is going to listen. In reality, people will listen…but in order to get (workers) to talk, you need to work with them in their element.”

If leaders spent just 15-30 minutes per day working alongside their field crews — getting their hands dirty, experiencing their challenges and listening to their stories — they would earn the trust of these workers and uncover hidden hazards that would never appear in a formal report.

These insights could then be applied to implement new systems, tools and policies that truly enhance safety.

A Fresh Approach to Safety that Produces Positive Change

In recent years, the construction industry has been shifting from a reactive, blame-focused safety culture to a proactive, systems-focused approach, largely driven by the principles of HOP.

Unlike traditional behavior-based safety models that emphasize blame and punishment, HOP seeks to understand the reasons behind workers' actions and implement systemic controls to prevent incidents.

To be clear, HOP is not about being “soft” on safety or accountability. HOP is about adopting a more resilient, intelligent method for managing the inherent complexities and risks of large-scale construction projects.

By focusing on systems rather than individual actions, companies can foster a safer, more productive work environment.

The most effective safety tool a company possesses is a leadership team that’s willing to hear bad news, react with grace and understanding, learn from it and continually improve the system(s).

Written by