ModulesSafety ObservationsReport & Learn
Watch the work, not the worker.One record per observation, and a plan for every observer.
For site leaders and EHS teams running observation programmes: let managers walk, let peers observe, or mix both. Each observer has a monthly plan, and progress counts what was actually recorded.
- Date
- 6 Oct 2026
- Area
- Compressor house · North site
- Observer
- Priya Raman
An example observation; the fields are the product’s, the values illustrative.
Where it connects
On the same loop: Safety Talks, Hazard & Risk Register and 39 more modules in one workspace.
Method note
Peers or leaders on the walk? The evidence backs both.
Behavioural programmes grew up on peer observation. Later work argues the most useful observations look upward, at how the job is run.
Leandro · Founder, UProcess
One school trains frontline staff to observe each other and give feedback on the spot. The other sends leaders into the field, where a visible manager hears what the plan left out. Both fail when the walk turns into a count.
So anyone can be an observer, and each one has their own monthly plan.
- Leader walksManagers and supervisors observe, each with a target for the month.
- Peer observersCrew members observe crew. The plan is per person, so nobody carries the site’s number.
- Visiting observersSomeone from outside the crew, such as a contractor lead, is recorded by name like any observer.
Where Safety Observations usually breaks
Four places an observation programme goes wrong, and what the record does about each.
The card count becomes the target.
A review of behaviour-based safety programmes warns that quotas for observation cards can backfire, with cards filled in to meet the number rather than after a real observation.
Source: Fleming and Lardner, IChemE Symposium Series 148
In UProcess Each observer has a monthly plan, and progress is counted from the observations they recorded, each with a date and an area. There is no field to type a total.
October plan · Priya Raman
6 of 8 recorded
Counted from observations with a date and an area.
The observation watches the person, not the job.
HSE notes that behavioural programmes can shift responsibility onto individuals, feel like surveillance when trust is low, and do little on their own for major hazards.
Source: HSE, behavioural safety approaches
In UProcess An observation records the area, the date, the shift and the observer. It has no field for the name of the person observed.
OB-2026-0287
- Area
- Compressor house · North site
- Observer
- Priya Raman
- Person observed
- Not recorded
The form has no field for it.
The unsafe condition is left for someone else.
A study of safe behaviour programmes found observers told not to chase physical conditions, which leaves workers concluding the programme is about blame. It argues hazards seen on a walk must be acted on.
Source: Hopkins, ANU Working Paper 36
In UProcess An observation can start an investigation, which opens with the observation it came from.
Started from OB-2026-0287
Leaders never leave the office.
HSE’s guidance for major hazard leaders asks them to be visible and spend time with the workforce, so they hear what is really happening rather than what reports say.
Source: HSE, INDG277
In UProcess Managers are observers like anyone else, with their own plan, so the site can see whether its leaders walked this month.
October plans · North site
Site North siteMonths Aug – Oct 2026
| Observer | Aug | Sep | Oct |
|---|---|---|---|
Grace OkaforSite manager | 4 of 4 | 4 of 4 | 4 of 4 |
Priya RamanArea supervisor | 8 of 8 | 7 of 8 | 6 of 8 |
Ravi MenonOperator | 2 of 2 | 2 of 2 | 1 of 2 |
Samuel AdeyemiContractor lead | — | 3 of 4 | 3 of 4 |
The record an auditor asks for.
A programme is judged on what it found and what changed, not on the number of cards.
- Every observation with its date, area and observer.
- Each observer’s monthly plan beside what they recorded.
- The investigations started from an observation.
- The actions from those investigations, with owners and the check that they worked.
What’s in an observation
- Observation
- Date, site, area, shift and who observed it.
- Observers
- An observer is recorded by name, with area, job title and shift.
- Plans
- A monthly target per observer. Progress is derived from recorded observations, never typed.
- Follow-up
- Start an investigation from the observation. It keeps the link back.
- People
- No field for the name of the person observed. The record is about the work.
Questions
Do we name the people we observe?
No. There is no field for it. The observation is about the work, not the person.
Can a contractor lead observe?
Yes. Every observer is recorded by name.
How is progress against the plan counted?
From the observations the observer recorded in the month. Nobody types a number.
What if an observation shows something bigger?
Start an investigation from it. Its actions are tracked in Action Tracking until someone checks that they worked.