What does it mean to actively care for people’s safety? My ISHN article last December answered this question by discussing the difference between “caring” and “acting,” and explaining why the mission of behavior-based safety (BBS) is to promote and support “actively caring”. With this article, I go a step further and introduce the STEP process of actively caring for people’s safety. An actively-caring-for-people (AC4P) work culture is nurtured when people provide supportive feedback for desirable behavior–when they show genuine appreciation for people’s AC4P behavior. Unfortunately, expressing gratitude for another person’s safety-related behavior is not common nor even natural. Here’s a tool and a process to make this critical interpersonal exchange easier and more meaningful.

The STEP Process

            The STEP process – See, Thank, Enter, Pass – starts when individuals look for AC4P behavior from others (i.e., See) and show gratitude for that AC4P behavior with a green wristband (i.e., Thank) embossed with the words: “Actively Caring for People” and a unique identification number. The wristband recipient is requested to document this expression of gratitude (including the nature of the AC4P behavior) at the AC4P Website (www.ac4p.org), along with the wristband number. In this way, a recognition process is entered at the AC4P website and tracked worldwide (i.e., Enter) as positive AC4P communication. Then the wristband recipient is requested to look for AC4P behavior from another person and pass on the wristband (i.e., Pass).

This STEP process exemplifies a basic principle of applied behavioral science–supportive feedback–and motivates the recipient to repeat the AC4P behavior recognized and support the STEP process. Many AC4P behaviors support safety, from wearing PPE and removing a hazard to reporting a close call and helping a coworker complete a work task safely.

Documenting and reading the safety-support behaviors posted on the AC4P Website contributes to helping AC4P behavior become a social norm. People see that acting beyond one’s self-serving interests to benefit others is more common than imagined. A culture of interpersonal trust, compassion, and routine AC4P behavior is nurtured.

However, the STEP process is much easier said than done. Why, because observing and rewarding AC4P behavior is not part of our normal routines, even within our own families, let alone educational institutions, the workplace, and the community. Indeed, stopping a work crew to provide some supportive AC4P safety feedback is certainly not expected and may not be appreciated. And when walking a jobsite, supervisors and safety leaders do not normally look for desirable behavior to reward, even though supportive feedback is the most powerful way to improve both behavior and attitude at the same time.

Consider that people typically stifle, a “thank you” given for a kind act with expressions like, “No problem,” “Don’t worry about it,” or “Just doing my job”. Hence, an expression of sincere gratitude loses its power to increase the occurrence of similar AC4P behavior by the very reaction of the recipient of supportive feedback.

The AC4P Wristband

Whenever the AC4P concept is explained to others, it’s always appreciated; and whenever an AC4P wristband is offered, it’s always accepted with a sincere smile and worn with a sense of pride. In fact, we know many individuals who wear their AC4P wristband every day, and actually resist passing it on.

Imagine receiving an AC4P wristband from a colleague, safety manager, direct report, supervisor, coach, or teacher who gives a gracious and tactful description of the AC4P behavior that justified the special recognition. Such unexpected recognition is sure to be accepted with a pleasant surprise. In turn, this positive and unique encounter is bound to be shared with others. As these positive exchanges accumulate, people around you will take note and report positive vibes about the AC4P Movement. The AC4P Movement then spreads throughout the work culture, promoting actions that reflect an AC4P teaching/learning culture for injury prevention.

The AC4P wristband and STEP process are essentially a feedback process to help cultivate a genuine brother’s/sister’s keeper culture of interpersonal compassion and safety-supportive behavior. The value of BBS observations is obvious–safe and at-risk behaviors are recorded, and suggestions for making the environment and/or the work process safer are considered. But what about going a step further–reaching beyond observing and recording behaviors, and taking the time to provide timely behavior-based feedback to support employees’ safe behavior and correct their at-risk behavior. As you’ve heard before, “If you see something, say something.”

The STEP Feedback Process

With the AC4P/STEP process, colleagues, supervisors, safety leaders are on the lookout for AC4P behavior. When they observe safety-supportive behavior, they seize the moment to reward that AC4P behavior and empower another person to join the AC4P Movement. And if an employee accepts corrective feedback to improve or adjust relevant behavior, reward that person with an AC4P wristband and the AC4P-Movement message.

STEP Feedforward

At times we are in situations where safety-supportive behavior is easy to observe, but it’s inconvenient to reward such behavior with an AC4P wristband. So, here’s an alternative approach to distributing AC4P wristbands and promoting the AC4P Movement. Deliver your AC4P wristband as feedforward rather than feedback. Give an AC4P wristband to a worker or colleague after you perform an AC4P behavior for them.

After an individual thanks you for your AC4P behavior on behalf of his or her learning, safety, security, or well-being, pass on an AC4P wristband and ask this person to join the AC4P Movement. This is feedforward, and it activates safety-related AC4P behavior. You might say something like:

“Thank you for appreciating the positive behaviors performed by me and others in our workplace community. Wouldn’t it be nice if more of us performed acts of kindness on behalf of others? In fact, many individuals in our workplace have joined an Actively Caring for People initiative, or the AC4P Movement, to spread acts of kindness among people nationwide, and even worldwide. This wristband reflects this Movement and I hope you will wear it and join us. Every wristband is engraved with its own ID number. I will record the ID number on the wristband I’ve given you when I report this AC4P event at the AC4P Website. Will you also report my act of kindness, along with the ID number on your wristband? The website address is engraved on the wristband, or you can visit the AC4P Website directly by logging on to www.ac4p.org. I hope you will look for opportunities to pass on your wristband, either after you perform an act of kindness for another person, or when you see another person help someone else. In the first case, you acknowledge your own act of kindness, as I did with you; in the second scenario, you reward someone for his or her AC4P behavior.”

Of course, this quotation is only a suggestion. You might use different words to do the following: 1) Explain why you passed on the AC4P wristband to the beneficiary of your AC4P service; 2) Introduce the STEP process of the AC4P Movement, including the reporting of AC4P stories at the AC4P Website, along with the ID number on the wristband; and 3) Encourage this new member of the AC4P Movement to pass on the wristband when s/he performs an act of kindness (as feedforward) or when s/he observes an AC4P act from another person (as feedback).

In Conclusion

            Whereas my ISHN contribution last December introduced the AC4P Movement and explained seven founding research-based principles of this Movement, this article illustrated how you can bring this Movement to life in your workplace and cultivate a brother’s/sister’s keeper culture–a culture where injuries are prevented by interpersonal AC4P behavior-based feedback to support safe behavior and correct at-risk behavior.

Krista S. Geller, Ph.D. President of GellerAC4P, Inc. Available for keynotes and AC4P training. Please visit www.activelycaringpeople.org and www.gellerac4p.com contact kgeller@vt.edu for more information.