Summary: Lack of senior management buy-in is one of the most common reasons a Behavior Based Safety program fails, because workers quickly recognize when leadership support is symbolic rather than active. BBS requires executive commitment to resources, visibility, follow-through, and cultural reinforcement if observation data is going to translate into safer behaviors. Without that commitment, the program often degrades into compliance theater instead of a credible system for reducing workplace injuries.
Behavior Based Safety (BBS) programs fail more often than they should. The underlying principles are not flawed. In fact, predictable, preventable organizational failures cause BBS Programs Failures. In this blog series, we explore the most common reasons BBS programs break down.
We draw on insights from industry professionals Joseph Braun, EHS Manager at Ferrara Candy Company; John Peoples, Global EHS Manager at Huntsman Corporation; and Chad Rasmussen, EHS Manager at Cardinal Health. Each of them manages effective Behavior Based Safety programs at scale. Moreover, they have experienced these challenges firsthand.
A significant investment of time, resources, and organizational energy goes into building and maintaining a BBS program. This investment exists for good reason. Ultimately, a BBS program protects workers from injury. In high-hazard environments, that means preventing fatalities.
For this reason, it is critical to understand not only how to build a BBS program, but also where these programs typically go wrong. What separates programs that deliver lasting safety improvements from those that quietly fade into compliance theater? In this post, we examine the most common BBS Programs Failures — and how safety leaders can avoid them.
We have covered in previous posts how a lack of buy-in and participation by workers is one of the primary failure modes. These are the very workers a BBS program is meant to protect. Therefore, here we go deeper into the organizational and leadership dynamics that consistently undermine program success.
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Lack of Senior Management Buy-in & Commitment to Behavior Based Safety (BBS)
John Peoples, Global EHS Manager at Huntsman Corporation, identifies the single most common failure he encounters: “a lack of buy-in and commitment from the senior managers.” Senior leaders carry the most institutional authority in any organization. Consequently, when that authority does not visibly support a BBS program, the message is clear. The entire workforce perceives that safety observations are optional, low-priority, or performative.
Experienced leaders who have spent decades in an industry can be particularly resistant to behavioral safety approaches. They often view them as bureaucratic additions to an already complex workload. However, overcoming this resistance requires a specific strategy. In particular, leaders must connect BBS program outcomes directly to the metrics senior leaders care about. These include TRIR reduction, regulatory audit readiness, insurance costs, and operational efficiency.
Joseph Braun, EHS Manager at Ferrara Candy Company, echoes this concern. He emphasizes the cascading effect of leadership disengagement: “when there is no buy-in from the leadership team. If the leadership team is not 100% and pushing for the observations to be completed, the trickle-down shows that it doesn’t matter and is not a priority.“
This trickle-down effect is one of the most damaging dynamics in workplace safety programs. When frontline workers observe that supervisors and managers do not take BBS observations seriously, participation collapses. Specifically, leaders who do not complete observations, do not reference them in safety discussions, or do not act on the data send a clear message. As a result, a BBS program without consistent leadership engagement quickly becomes a checkbox exercise. It generates data but creates no safety value.
As Chad Rasmussen, EHS Manager at Cardinal Health, emphasizes: “top-level management commitment to programs like this is essential. If the program just lives in one department or the people at the top stop caring about/pushing these types of programs they will fail. It needs to stay relevant to the decision-makers and it needs to be seen as adding value.“
This is a critical insight about BBS Programs Failures. Programs that are siloed within the safety department rarely achieve the cultural penetration needed to drive lasting behavioral change. They lack visible executive sponsorship. As such, the program must be positioned as a business priority — not just a safety initiative. Similarly, leaders at every level must be held accountable for participation and outcomes.
The consistent message from all three professionals is clear. Senior management commitment is not a nice-to-have for BBS programs. In fact, it is a prerequisite for success. Bringing leadership on board requires framing BBS as a strategic investment. Notably, this investment covers workforce protection, regulatory compliance (OSHA, ISO 45001), and operational performance.
To build your case, use data from your BBS observations. Specifically, show the connection between behavioral trends and incident rates. Additionally, tie observation completion rates to safety KPIs reported to the board. Most importantly, make the business case in the language that resonates with decision-makers.
Looking at the big picture and keeping the goals of your safety program firmly in view are essential disciplines. After all, every EHS leader trying to sustain a BBS program faces inevitable organizational headwinds. However, with a clear strategy, defined goals, and regular progress reporting tied to meaningful safety metrics, you can build and maintain the senior management commitment that any BBS program requires to survive — and to deliver real safety outcomes.
Lead and promote your Behavior Based Safety Program with patience, vision, leadership, and all the resources available to you. In particular, this includes the right technology to make participation easy. It also means making data actionable at every level of the organization.
Check out previous blogs in this series and stay tuned for more!
Why You Should Include Behavior Based Safety in your Safety Management Program
How Do You Measure the Success Of A BBS Program?
Tips To Increase Participation, Buy-In, And The Effectiveness Of Your BBS Program
How to Avoid the BBS ‘Blame Game’
How Do You Avoid ‘Pencil Whipping’ With BBS Programs?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do most BBS programs fail?
Most Behavior Based Safety programs fail for one or more of the following reasons. Common causes include lack of senior management buy-in and visible commitment, insufficient worker participation, and overly complex observation processes. In other words, these complex processes create compliance burden without safety value. Additionally, inadequate data collection and analysis contribute to BBS Programs Failures. So does failure to close the loop on corrective actions.
Research consistently shows that BBS programs without strong leadership sponsorship at the executive level fail. They cannot achieve the cultural penetration needed to change behavior sustainably. Furthermore, programs seen as department-level initiatives — rather than organization-wide priorities — struggle to maintain participation over time.
How do you get senior management to support a BBS program?
To secure senior management support for a BBS program, connect the program directly to the metrics leaders care about. These include Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), regulatory compliance costs, workers’ compensation exposure, and operational efficiency. For example, present data showing the relationship between behavioral observation frequency and incident rate reduction.
Frame BBS not as a safety department project, but as a strategic investment. It supports workforce protection and business resilience aligned with OSHA compliance and ISO 45001 obligations. Moreover, regular reporting to senior leadership helps maintain visibility. Use dashboards that show BBS KPIs alongside safety performance metrics. This approach sustains commitment over time.
What role does technology play in preventing BBS program failure?
Technology plays a critical role in preventing BBS program failure. It removes the friction that drives disengagement. Digital safety observation platforms make it fast and simple for workers at all levels to submit observations from any device. Consequently, this eliminates the paper-based processes that create delays, errors, and participation barriers.
Real-time dashboards give EHS managers and senior leaders instant visibility into observation volumes, behavioral trends, and corrective action status. As a result, demonstrating program value to decision-makers becomes easier. Ultimately, this also helps sustain leadership commitment. When BBS data is automated, consistent, and immediately visible, the program is far more likely to remain a priority at every level of the organization.
