Behavioral Safety Audit

Evolution of Training: From Face-to-Face Sessions to Microlearning

Traditional training formats for behavioral safety audits (BSA) often face the problem of skill fade. Specialists and managers who have completed the basic course eventually start conducting audits formally, relying only on residual knowledge. Under restrictions on face-to-face meetings, this problem is exacerbated. Andrey Protasov, Head of Development at the Ilim Group, discusses an unconventional approach to maintaining auditor qualifications: moving practical training to corporate messengers.

This format was not chosen by chance: the audience, accustomed to standard distance courses, needed a new, non-overwhelming approach. Messenger-based training allows integrating skill practice into the workflow without taking managers away from production for entire days.

Architecture of the Distance Course

The program spans several weeks and is built on the principle of microlearning. Groups of 35 to 100 people receive information in measured doses, four days a week (from Tuesday to Friday).

• Week One (Setup): Resolving technical issues, registration, test surveys, and scheduling calls. It is important to remove all barriers before the substantive part begins.
• Week Two (Theoretical): Concise distribution of materials refreshing BSA standards in memory — basic steps, conversation stages, and classic situations. The materials are saved on the phone as cheat sheets.
• Weeks Three to Six (Practical): The key stage, including individual role-play calls and the analysis of complex communication situations.

Role-Play Audio Calls as a Skill-Building Tool

The main value of the program lies in individual calls from consultants simulating a real behavioral safety audit. The presentation details the process of preparing and conducting such sessions. Interestingly, during the development stage, the authors abandoned video calls in favor of regular audio calls. Practice has shown that the absence of a camera reduces psychological tension, allowing participants to focus on the essence of the dialogue rather than visual perception.

The consultant calls at a pre-selected time, sets the scenario (for example, "I am in a hot workshop without a hard hat"), and plays the role of the violator. The speaker demonstrates by example how auditors learn to handle four types of difficult employee reactions:

• Silence: the employee withdraws; the auditor's task is to bring them into an open dialogue.
• Aggression: a defensive reaction requiring slowing down the pace of the conversation and steering it in a constructive direction.
• Deception: denying the obvious ("nothing happened"), where the auditor needs to build a sound argument.
• "I don't understand you": an avoidance tactic often used by contractor employees.

Assessing Audit Quality and Engaging Managers

One of the main problems with BSA remains formalization, where employees simply agree and credit each other with conducting an audit. To combat this, the company shifted from evaluating the number of reports to assessing the quality of the conversations themselves on the production floor. Experienced trainers accompany managers during real audits, filling out communication quality checklists.

In addition, the speaker analyzes the motivation system: the company tracks the engagement index of managers (both production and office staff). This metric is tied to personal KPIs and is calculated individually, preventing departments from "coasting" on the efforts of a single hyperactive employee.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• How to organize multi-week BSA training in a messenger without interrupting production?
• Why audio calls proved more effective than video calls for practicing auditor skills?
• How to properly react to employee aggression, deception, or silence during an audit?
• How to assess the real quality of a behavioral audit rather than a formal report of its execution?
• How to tie managers' engagement in BSA to their personal KPIs?