The Client and Its Challenges
This international manufacturing company wanted to lower incident rates and increase employee safety; results from previous programs had leveled off and the company needed a new approach. Employee morale was low due to downsizing, multiple plants running seven days a week, 24-hours a day, and additional stress and anxiety surrounding a general business slowdown. Production goals were increased, but with fewer people in place to help achieve them. All of these factors resulted in employee complaints of burnout and frustration.

The Risk Consulting Approach
Marsh consultants conducted a behavioral assessment to identify cultural issues including morale, management methods, and motivational systems. The assessment had three major components: 1) individual interviews with the management team, 2) employee focus groups, and 3) a questionnaire, which was sent to a random sampling of employees. Research results highlighted challenges and opportunities for improvement.

The team determined that the behavioral risk improvement (BRI) process could be used to improve current safety systems as well as improve employee morale. Marsh helped the client establish a core team, made up of one to two employees from each work area and representing 15 to 20 percent of the workforce population. The core team was trained on the BRI process. This included training on how to pinpoint at-risk behaviors, measure safe and unsafe behaviors, and provide peers with feedback and positive reinforcement in order to turn safe behaviors into habits. In addition, managers and supervisors were trained in the BRI methodology so that the process could be supported and reinforced at all levels of the organization.

Marsh also helped the client establish a steering team, which included one person from each core team. The steering team was responsible for measuring and benchmarking results across the organization and identifying opportunities for continuous behavior improvement.

To create a cycle of continuous improvement, core team members selected and targeted three to four at-risk behaviors that were relevant to their work area. As employees began to adopt safe behaviors and they reached habit strength, a new behavior was added to the target list. This created a flexible safety system that could be adapted to meet changing needs.

Results
Prior to implementing the BRI process, recordable rates were 7.2, 5.4, and 5.6 between 1998 and 2000. After the program was introduced, the client saw a decrease in recordable rates to 3.7 in 2001 and 2.3 in 2002. During these two years, the mean incident rate was 3.0, which is below the industry average. The BRI interventions produced positive interactions from peer-to-peer and management-to-peer perspectives. Management visibility was apparent and systematic. Celebrations for achieving success were included, and employees were excited about their impact.