Safety Score Permit (SSP) to Enhance Safety Performance

Abstract

This paper addresses the need for efficient management control tools and it focuses on behavioural performance. This work aimed to develop a system to monitor and improve behaviours in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS). The new system is called Safety Score Permit (SSP) and its development was based on three main concepts, namely, the behavioural-based philosophy, the score cards system, and the reasoning underlying the “point system” in use for road safety. Behaviors are assessed by direct observation, either by OHS specialists, or by trained “observers” elected by their peers. There are bonus and penalty points, depending on the safe/unsafe behaviors observed. The SSP tool is intended to promote effective management control through the implementation of a strategy focused on collective and individual performance. This approach to reinforce OHS management could play an important role in improving workers’ risk perception and encourage safe behaviours. The SSP tool will allow everyone—workers and managers—to know, at any time, their individual and collective performance, as well as to disseminate positively the best practices and commitment to safety, which clearly will influence the whole organization. It has the potential to become a useful and transparent tool for monitoring OHS performance of employees in all hierarchical levels.