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.
Name three categories of:
Errors and violations
- Three categories of errors are : slips lapses and mistakes.
- Three categories of Violations are: routine situational and exceptional.
In the hierarchy of control, Explain WHY,
Administrative controls and PPE
are considered the least effective control options?
Both of these forms of control are VERY reliant on (Personal Behaviour)
Remember:
- Worker do not always behave in an ideal way
- they break rules knowingly, (shortcuts)
- and are subject to human error.
