3.3 Human Factors Which Influence Behaviour At Work Flashcards
Nebosh Learning Outcome 2016
3.3 Outline the human factors which influence behaviour at work in a way that can affect health and safety
3.3 Human factors which influence behaviour at work
Organisational factors:
- eg culture, leadership, resources, work patterns, communications
Job factors:
- eg task, workload, environment, display and controls, procedures
Individual factors:
- eg competence, skills, personality, attitude and risk perception
Link between individual, job and organisational factors.
Human factors that could influence an individual’s Health and Safety behaviour.
- Environment
- Physical
- Cognitive
- Psychological
.
Individual Differences which could influence
a persons Health and Safety behaviour
- Self interest
- Personality and Attitude
- Motivation
- Training, Experience and Competence
- Poor memory or/and Hearing
- Language and Communication difficulties
- Physical Health and Age
.
Typical examples of:
Immediate causes and contributing factors for human failures.
Individual factors that have a negative influence on workplace health and safety
- Low competence or skill levels
- Tired, Bored or Disinterested work mates
- Individual mental or medical problems
- Complacency (repetitive tasks)
- Inexperience (new or young)
- Peer pressures
.
(HSG48)
Reducing Error and Influencing Behaviour
Typical examples of:
Immediate causes and contributing factors for human failures in JOB Health and Safety
- illogical design of instruments / equipment
- Missing or unclear instructions
- Poorly maintained equipment
- High workload
- Noisy and unpleasant conditions
Name three factors that could influence an employees behaviour:
- Individual factors (Individual differences)
- Job factors
- Organisational factors
Name three types of Mistakes:
- lapses of attention
- mistaken priorities
- wilfulness or deliberate actions
Give examples of situations in which perception and reality do not match:
- stepping on the non-existent rung of a ladder
- misjudging the weight of an object to be lifted
- misreading a dial
You should also be able to suggest a number of reasons why the perception failure occurred:
- sensory defects - deafness, colour blindness
- background factors such as experience and peer group pressure
- environmental factors - loss of concentration because of noise, heat, alcohol and so on
Attitude - Is such an important factor in the development of a safety culture, encompassing as it does
Attitudes to
- authority
- implementing systems of work
- wearing PPE
- recording the results of activities undertaken, etc.
We may perhaps define attitude as
‘behavioural tendencies in particular situations’
Motivation - ‘Factors which direct or drive the way in which a person acts.
Motivation ‘it could be said’ provides the external pressures which influence an individual’s attitude.
NEBOSH require that you are able to provide examples of : motivation ……encouragement… incentives (including financial)
- involvement in decision making
- demonstrations of management commitment
- disciplinary action (such ‘negative’ motivation may be required at times, but is hardly the option of first choice)
To this list should be added training, a crucial ingredient in motivating staff and in providing the skills necessary to undertake work in safety.
Examination key point
Providing definitions of
‘motivation’, ‘perception’, ‘attitude’
is a frequent examination question
:motivation: internal drive to achieve a specific goal
perception: the interpretation of sensory information
attitude: predisposition to behave in a particular way
Three specific areas to examine when looking to prevent of human error
- the organisation
- the job
- personal factors
categories of human failure needed for the exam:
• a definition ‘errors’, ‘skill-based errors’
• an example to illustrate the definition
• management action which would reduce the likelihood of particular categories of human failure from (re-)occurring
Give some typical examples of:
Organisational factors that might contribute to human errors or failures
- Poor work planning, leading to high work pressure
- Lack of safety systems and barriers
- Inadequate responses to previous incidents
- Management based on one-way communications
- Deficient co-ordination and responsibilities
- Poor management of health and safety
- Poor health and safety culture
Reducing errors
Errors are more likely to occur under certain circumstances what are they:
- Work environment stressors, eg extremes of heat, humidity, noise, vibration, poor lighting, restricted workspace;
- Extreme task demands, eg high workload, tasks demanding high levels of alertness, jobs which are very monotonous and repetitive, situations with many distractions and interruptions;
- Social and organisational stressors, eg insufficient staffing levels, inflexible or overdemanding work schedules, conflicts with work colleagues, peer pressure and conflicting attitudes to health and safety;
- Individual stressors, eg inadequate training and experience, high levels of fatigue, reduced alertness, family problems, ill-health, misuse of alcohol and drugs;
and - Equipment stressors, eg poorly designed displays and controls, inaccurate and confusing instructions and procedures.
What is the difference between a
‘human error’ and a ‘violation’
- A human error is an action or decision which was not intended, which involved a deviation from an accepted standard, and which led to an undesirable outcome.
- A violation is a deliberate deviation from a rule or procedure.
