Procedural Recommendations for Effective Staff Safety Monitoring Practices in ABA Organizations Serving Individuals With Challenging Behaviors

Hardesty et al. (2025) wrote a how-to guide for ABA teams who work with severe aggression.

They mixed two ideas: a behavior-based safety (BBS) model and behavioral skills training (BST).

The paper tells staff to log every staff injury like data, graph it weekly, and practice safe responses together.

The paper is a recipe, not an experiment, so it does not give outcome numbers.

It gives step-by-step forms: injury log, category codes, and a weekly review meeting script.

The goal is to turn hurts into visible data so teams can see patterns and fix them fast.

Lambrechts et al. (2010) watched staff rush in with words and quick blocks when clients hit. Hardesty flips the lens: watch the staff, not the client, and write down every bump.

Guercio et al. (2025) also used BST plus a reward to push data sheets above 80%. Both 2025 papers show the same move: train, then make recording easy and worth it.

Fuesy et al. (2025) found staff only stay careful while the observer is in sight. Hardesty answers that by baking weekly graph review into the schedule so the “observer” never leaves.

If you run an inpatient or day program for severe behavior, you already track client data. Now you can track staff data the same way. Print the injury log, hold a five-minute graph review every Monday, and use BST to rehearse safer holds or exits. You will spot risky rooms, times, or clients before someone gets seriously hurt.