Behaviour Based Safety Conversations around Safe and Unsafe Acts (SUSA)

Be sensitive to the impact on the employee of being talked to by you, mid task, near colleagues etc.
Use nonthreatening body language (posture, gestures, eye contact, expression)
Use a pleasant friendly and non-threatening tone of voice
Use open, non-threatening questions such as these
Introduce yourself and build rapport briefly before beginning conversation.

Opening questions
 Tell me about what you’re working on at the moment?
 What would you like to focus on today for this safety conversation?

Activity questions
 What’s working well/not working well for you at the moment?
 How did we get to this situation and why do you feel the need to work in this way?

Consequence questions
 How could you or someone else get hurt doing this activity/behaviour/job in this way?
 What would the consequences be for the individuals involved?
 What would the harm or injury be, and to whom?

Values and feelings

 What’s the excuse that people use when they can’t follow the procedure/sop?
 Where do you feel that you’re compromising yourself and what are the potential consequences
of that?
 If you saw someone else in this situation, what would you do?
 What do you think your (manger/supervisor/respected colleague) would expect you to do in this
situation?

Follow-up questions
 How would you resolve this situation?
 What have you done so far to improve things?
 What would be the most helpful thing that you could do now to improve this situation?
 What’s preventing your perfect day?
 Who do you need to speak to about this issue?
 Is there anything else that you need to consider?
 What makes you proud about what you do and your work?