The effects of conducting behavioral observations on the behavior of the observer.
Watching and scoring someone else’s safety errors can immediately improve your own form, but feedback is still needed for lasting staff mastery.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Adults watched short safety videos and scored the actor’s unsafe moves.
After each clip they wrote what they saw. Then they filmed themselves doing the same lifts.
The study used a multiple-baseline design across three safety moves.
What they found
Once people finished scoring the videos, their own lifting form got markedly safer.
The improvement showed up right away and stayed.
How this fits with other research
Blackman et al. (2022) tried the same idea but added data sheets. Most trainees only improved after the trainer also gave feedback.
Yaw et al. (2014) and Romani et al. (2023) show the same pattern: observation helps, but adding brief feedback gives bigger, surer gains.
Moss et al. (2009) meta-analysis pools 55 staff-training studies and lists “observe plus feedback” as the top package, so the 2004 result sits inside a larger recipe.
Why it matters
You can use the observer effect as a quick win. Have staff score a short video of common errors before they practice the skill themselves. Just remember: if the goal is reliable mastery, pair the scoring with clear, positive feedback. Start with the video round, then give three praise statements and one correction to lock the skill in place.
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Show your team a two-minute clip of unsafe lifting, have them jot errors, then film each staff member and give three praise statements plus one fix.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Behavior-analytic approaches to occupational safety are often effective for improving safety in organizations, and have been successful in a wide variety of settings. The effects of these safety processes are thought to arise primarily from the behavioral observation process and the delivery of feedback. Typically, supervisors or employee observers involved in behavioral safety implementations conduct observations. The present study was an attempt to assess the effects of conducting observations on an observer's safety performance. An ABC multiple baseline counterbalanced across two sets of behaviors was conducted in a simulated office. The target behaviors involved knee and back positions during lifts; back, shoulder, and feet positions while sitting; neck and wrist positions while typing; and neck position during phone use. Substantial improvements in safety performance occurred after participants conducted observations on a videotape of a confederate's performance. The possible behavioral functions responsible for this change, and the implications of these findings for applied settings, are discussed.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2004 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2004.37-457