Reactive Behavior

OBSERVING for Reactive Behavior

The first 10 to 30 seconds are critical to see what is really going on. Workers tend to react to the presence of an observer and at-risk behaviors “evaporate” quickly. Examples of reactive behavior include:

Adjusting personal protective equipment (PPE)
putting face shield down
putting on eye protection
fastening back belt
slipping earplugs into place

Changing position or turning away
changing from stoop to squat while lifting
grabbing tool with both hands rather than one
moving out of the line of fire
changing the direction of cutting
turning back to you so you can’t see their hands or face

Stopping work
walking away from the workstation
turning off the machine
quickly switching tools or task
starting a conversation with you or someone else

Attaching safeguards
stopping work to put the guard back on the machine
interrupting task to put chucks behind tires
reaching for personal protective equipment
attaching lockout/Tagout devices

Re-arranging job
subtly cleaning up clutter
changing from the wrong tool to the right one