Every employee deserves to work for an organization that values their health and safety and ensures they return home at the end of each workday. Written by Terry McSween, PhD, and Adam Hockman, The New Values-Based Safety: Using Behavioral Science to Improve Your Safety Culture is an essential reference for leaders and safety professionals in any industry. The New Values-Based Safety expands on McSween's original work on Values-Based Safety (VBS), which is a leading approach to behavior-based safety (BBS) grounded in aligning organizational behaviors with a clearly defined set of organizational values such as honesty, respect, and concern for the well-being of everyone.
Dr. McSween is an internationally recognized expert in behavioral safety. He was the CEO and cofounder of Quality Safety Edge, a company that helped organizations improve safety and leadership through behavioral psychology. With The New Values-Based Safety, he teams up with trusted learning adviser, Adam Hockman, to provide straightforward and effective guidelines, including:
- Two new chapters on laying the cultural and leadership foundation for any safety improvement effort.
- Implementing a Values-Based Safety process from design to execution and maintenance.
- Special considerations for small companies and industries where employees work in isolation.
- The behavioral science behind it all.
- Real-world case studies and more.
"The mission of this book is to help organizations rethink and redefine their approach to safety," McSween says. "A culture of safety often starts with what leaders say and do. Leaders who are clear on their values around safety can help shape the safety values of their organization. They can communicate the values of the organization and engage in safety-critical behaviors that align with those values. A compassionate, caring culture is the result of safety values aligning with employee and leader behavior."
In The New Values-Based Safety, the authors underscore the importance of creating a culture to support employee well-being along with the company's bottom line. "Whether you choose to continue your BBS programs in their traditional form or decide to modify aspects of your programs based on what you learn in this book, keep employee well-being top of mind," McSween explains. "The discussion and clarification of values in VBS helps ensure that your process creates a culture of caring and concern built on compassion and encouragement, rather than on discipline and enforcement."
"I unequivocally recommend this book as the most successful and practical safety book available. It is not just a safety book; it's a transformative tool that has shaped the landscape of organizational change efforts for the past three decades. The new edition will have a lasting impact on how leaders go about creating and sustaining their safety cultures," said Julie M. Smith, PhD, CEO of Performance Ally.
E. Scott Geller, PhD, also praised the book, saying, "In the safety field it is rare to find well-written books with straightforward, practical, and effective guidelines for developing company-wide action plans. This is one of those books. Read it carefully. It will help you make a beneficial difference in your organization."
