M 6 0 lQDGoal-setting and feedback techniques, previously used in a study to improve safety in the UK construction industry, were applied to a three-shift production plant, employing approximately 540 people. Critical safety behaviours were identified using accident records and 'in-depth' interviews. Checklists of critical behaviours were developed for each of 14 departments in the factory. Forty-eight observers were trained to observe their colleagues' safety performance and complete the checklists. 'Baseline' measures were taken over a four-to six-week period. Participative goal setting was used to set safety improvement 'goals' for the CriticaCbehaviours, within each department. Performance feedback was presented graphically in each department on a weekly basis. The results indicate significant improvementq-in safety performance, with a corresponding reduction in the plant's accident rate. Paradoxically, a statistical inverse relationship was not obtained between safety performance and accident rates, although the importance of non-safety variables in accident causation was demonstrated.There is little doubt that safety in the workplace is an area of growing importance. Its importance to managers and occupational psychologists is further enhanced by recent, and projected, changes in the locus of legal responsibility for safety issues. Following the Piper Alpha disaster and the associated Cullen Report (Cullen, 1990), the Health and Safety Executive has shifted its emphasis towards an 'auditing of systems' approach, rather than 'inspection of sites' in the North Sea oil industry. It is likely that this approach will be extended to other sectors of industry. The implications are that management will have to develop safety management systems that encourage safe working practices, rather than respond to the consequences of accidents. An accident is defined as 'any undesired circumstances which give rise to ill health or injury; damage to property, plant, products or the environment; production losses or increased liabilities ' (HSE, 1992). The Cullen report (1990) specifically mentions the use of goal setting as a technique that might be more widely used to address failures of management control, within safety management systems.* Requests for reprints. Goal setting affects performance by directing the attention and actions of individuals/groups; mobilizing effort; increasing persistence; and by motivating the search for appropriate performance strategies (Locke, Shaw, Saari & Latham, 1981). Setting difficult, yet achievable goals, and providing performance feedback in relation to them, can influence behaviour, if employees are committed to the goals. Performance feedback is usually defined as 'information about the effectiveness of particular work behaviours' (Taylor, Fisher & Ilgen, 1984) and is thought to fulfil several functions. For example, it is directive, by clarifying specific behaviours that ought to be performed; it is motivational, as it stimulates greater effort; and, it is error correcting, as it pro...
