Element 3 Flashcards
What are the 3 human factors that will influence behaviour at work
Organisational TheCulture, leadership, resources, work patterns, comms
Have the greatest influence but often overlooked.
Job: Task, workload, environment, displays, controls, procedures.
Individual: personality, competence, skills, attitudes, risk perception
‘Human factors refer to environmental, organisational and job factors and human and individual
characteristics which influence behaviour at work in a way which can affect health and safety.’
Desscribe the main organisational factors that will affect or influence behaviour
Organisational factors have the greatest influence on individual and group behaviour, yet they are often overlooked during the design of work and during investigation of accidents and incidents.
Work Patterns
- workers on short hour contracts have higher injury rates than those on full-time contracts
- shift workers suffer more psychological and physical ill-health than day workers
- fatigue associated with long /night shifts make mistakes more likely
- continuous exposure to specific hazards (vibration, noise, repetitive tasks etc.) without sufficient breaks makes damage more likely.
Resources
it is the responsibility of senior management to adequately resource H&S (time, money, staff)
Communications - Effective communication within organisation is associated with good safety performance
Safety Culture
Leadership
Describe how job factors can affect H&S performance
Jobs should be matched to the person doing the job, either;
> physically - the design of the workplace and working environment
> mentally - the individual’s information and decision-making requirements, their perception of the tasks and risks.
Job factors include;
Displays and controls
Their layout can influence the safety of a system. Typical problems include:
- switches which can be inadvertently knocked on or off
- control panel layouts which are difficult to understand
- displays which force the user to bend or stretch to read properly
- critical displays which are not in the operator’s normal field of view
- poorly identified controls which the operator could select by mistake
- emergency stop buttons which are difficult to reach.
Work equipment
Should be
- ‘fit for purpose’.
- suitable for the worker
- suitable for the the task to be undertaken
- suitable for the work environment
- designed ergonomically to account for limitations and strengths in human performance.
- maintained in safe working order
Workload
- Tasks with a high workload requiring a high level of alertness or attention are not sustainable for prolonged periods.
- Low workload with monotonous or repetitive tasks that can cause a worker to lose attention.
- Work rates that are imposed by a process without consideration of the physical and mental capabilities of the worker are also likely to result in human failure.
Environment
Work environment stressors such as extremes of heat, humidity, noise or vibration, poor lighting, and
restricted workspace can all have a negative impact on human reliability.
Procedures
Written procedures, such as standard operating procedures and emergency procedures are vital in maintaining consistency and in ensuring that everyone has the same basic level of information.
They are a key element of a safety management system and an important training tool. However, poor procedures can be a reason for people not following recommended actions and committing violations.
Procedures and instructions should be clear, concise, relevant, practical, available, up-to-date and accepted by users. Inaccurate and confusing instructions and procedures should be avoided.
Discuss the individual characteristics
Physical attributes and characteristics
- Gender, age, physical abilities, Physique, health state
- Can be fixed by ergonomic design
Psychological Characteristics
- Personality traits (fixed), Motivation, attitudes, perceptions, mental ability
- fixed by training
Socio-cultural factors
- family background, religion, socio-economic status, education, peer/social pressure
Define
* ability
* aptitude
* skill
* competence
* training
Ability is the capacity to perform a particular physical or mental function.
Aptitude is the inherent propensity for acquiring or developing ability.
Skill refers to a person’s ability to perform an activity effectively. Skills are typically learned or acquired by training.
Competence is the demonstrated ability to perform to a required standard. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations define competence as ‘the ability to perform to a required standard’, and states that:
‘A person shall be regarded as competent where he has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable him properly to assist in undertaking the measures referred to.’’
Training is the process of learning the skills you need to do a job. Can be job specific or developmental.
Define Attitude
An attitude represents an individual’s degree of like or dislike (positive or negative view) of an object, where the object may be a person, place, thing, or event.
An attitude involves thoughts, feelings and predispositions to act towards an object. (i.e. involves the head, the heart and the hands!).
Attitudes can be modified as a consequence of feedback on behaviour and are also influenced by the prevailing attitude of a peer group.
Define Personality
Personality is made up of a person’s pattern of thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
Personality arises from within the individual and remains fairly consistent throughout life.
Personality has certain fundamental characteristics, including:
- Consistency: People act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations.
- Psychological and physiological: Personality is a psychological construct, but is influenced by biological processes and needs.
- Impact upon behaviours: Personality does not just influence behaviour, it causes people to act in certain ways.
- Multiple expressions: Personality is expressed in thoughts, feelings, close relationships and other social interactions.
There are many models of the aspects of human personality. Discuss Costa and McRae’s five factor model (also known as the Big 5 or OCEAN) identified five main aspects of personality
Extroversion:excitability, sociability, talkivness, assertivness, expressivness
Openness: imagination and interest, curiosity, adventurous, creative
Conscienciousness: thoughtful, controlled, goal/deadline orientated, planned
Agreeableness: trust, kindness, cooperative, non-competitive
Neuroticism: sad, moody, unstable, anxious,
How can Motivation impact upon behaviour
3 ways
and explain how people can be motivated at work (x3)
Motivation is the reason to act/driving force of behaviour
X it gives purpose to and activates the behaviour
X directs the behaviour towards a particular goal
X sustains the behaviour and level of effort (perseverance) until the goal is achieved.
People are generally well motivated at work if:
X they understand the importance of the objectives they are tasked to achieve
X the objectives are realistic and achievable
X satisfactory achievement of the objective results in personal fulfilment and / or a tangible reward.
Eplain the 3 stages of the process of perception
Perception is the process by which sensation is organised and interpreted to make sense of the world.
Sensation
Information is taken in through the senses.
The senses may be ineffective due to illness (could not smell because of a cold), disability (could not hear the alarm because of deafness), or PPE (vision restricted by safety goggles or impeded by ear defenders). Some hazards such as agents or radiation are not detectable by human senses
Attention
Not all sensory information attracts attention.
A person’s attention may not be attracted because of focus or may be distracted by something else. Hazards can be environmental factors such as lighting levels or background noise.
Perception
The information is processed and made sense of.
The processing of the information may be flawed because of a of knowledge, experience or training, previous experience, overfamiliarity, or the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Risk Perception
What are the HSEs 8 factors that will influence an individual’s perception of risk
1) Perceived control
When people feel in control of a risk they don’t feel stressed by it. This has been shown to be a key factor in the acceptability of risk.
2) Psychological time and risk
Warnings about the link between smoking and lung cancer have been ineffective in stopping people smoking, because the time lag between smoking and the onset of lung cancer can be up to 40 years. If workers in a chemical plant were instructed to evacuate the workplace because of a leak of a toxic
substance that posed the same level of risk but with imminent effects they would not hesitate.
3) Familiarity
Research has shown that there is truth in the old adage ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. People tend to underestimate familiar risks and overestimate unfamiliar risks.
4) Perceptions of vulnerability
People with the perception of low vulnerability or invulnerability (to the consequences of smoking, drink driving, sexual activity etc.) are not likely to modify their behaviour. Some people have an ‘unrealistic optimism’, and assume that the harmful consequences will happen to someone else. This makes them more willing to take risks in all areas of their lives, including the
workplace. Young men, in particular, may be prone to feeling invulnerable.
5) Framing effects
The way risk based data is presented (or framed) has been shown to introduce significant biases. Changing the description of a risk from positive to negative (i.e. talk about costs rather than benefits or losses rather than gains) will have a measurable effect on observed behaviour.
6) Numerical representations of risk
Many people experience difficulty in understanding and interpreting statistical probabilities, thus the need to introduce additional qualitative characteristics to enable the conceptualisation of risk.
7) Perception of hazardous substances
Workplace studies have shown workers to perceive the risk associated with water based pesticides to be lower than solvent based, because water is natural and inert, and must therefore be lower risk than solvent. This is irrational as it does not consider the risk of the pesticide itself.
8) Risky situation or risky individual?
Individual differences and situational factors can interact and prompt risk taking behaviours.
What are the factors that influence individual behaviour (6)
- abilities, aptitude and competence
- training
- personality
- motivation
- perception
- attitude
Human Failure
Name the human factors that can cause accidents and give examples of each
Job:
- illogical design of equipment
- disturbances/interruptions
- missing/unclear instructions
- poorly maintained equipment
- high workload
- noisy/unpleasant work conditions
Organisation:
- 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
- lack of coordination and responsibilities
- poor management of H&S
- poor H&S culture.
Individual:
- Low skill
- tired staff
- board/disheartened staff
- medical issues
Human Failure
Explain what violations are, how violations can cause human failure and how to counter them.
Violations are intentional errors.
Routine violations - when breaking the rule or procedure has become a normal way of working within the work group.
> increase supervision and monitoring
remove unnecessary rules
ensure rules are relevant and practical
explain the reasons behind the rules
design tasks to minimise the likelihood of corner cutting
involve the workforce in drawing up rules to increase
acceptance.
Situational violations - when a rule is broken due to pressures from the job such as time pressure, insufficient staff, the right equipment not being available and extreme weather conditions.
> improving the working environment
> providing appropriate supervision
> improving job design and planning
> establishing a positive health and safety culture.
Exceptional violations - rarely happen - when something has gone wrong. During an emergency it may be necessary to break a rule because the benefits may outweigh the risks.
> provide more training for abnormal and emergency situations
> consider violations during risk assessments
> try to reduce the time pressure on staff to act quickly adverse situations.
Human Failure
Explain what an error is, how errors can cause human failure and how to counter them.
Errors are unintentional failures
**Skill Based : Slips **
Slips are failures in carrying out the actions of a task. They are described as ‘actions-not- as planned’,
e.g. picking up the wrong component from a mixed box, operating the wrong switch, transposing digits
when copying out numbers or doing steps in a procedure in the wrong order.
Skill Based: Lapses
Lapses cause actions to remain undone or workers to lose their place in a task. They can be reduced
by minimising distractions and interruptions to tasks and by providing effective reminders especially for
tasks which take some time to complete or involve periods of waiting.
Mistakes: Rule Based
Occur when behaviour is based on remembered rules or familiar procedures.
There is a strong tendency to use familiar rules or solutions even when they are not the most convenient
or efficient.
Mistakes: Knowledge based
Occur when it is necessary to solve problems from first principles.
Misdiagnoses and miscalculations are natural consequences of learning by trial and error.
**Error Reduction: **
> Address the conditions and reduce the stressors that increase the frequency of errors
> design plant and equipment to prevent slips and lapses occurring or to increase the chance of detecting and correcting them
> effective training
> Avoid creating tasks which involve complex decisions, diagnoses or calculations, e.g. by writing procedures for rare events, ensuring proper supervision of inexperienced staff, and provision for independent checking
> ensure procedures and instructions are clear, concise, available, up to date and accepted by users
> consider human error when undertaking risk assessments
> consider human error during incident investigations
> monitoring control measures for effectiveness.
Assessing Risk
What is a Risk Assessment?
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A careful examination of what, in the workplace, could cause harm to people.
Assessing Risk
Define the terms;
* Hazardous Event
* Hazard
* Harm
* Risk
Hazard: anything that may cause harm, such as chemicals, electricity, working from ladders, or an open drawer.
Harm: includes ill-health and injury, damage to property, plant, products or the environment, and production losses or increased liabilities.
Risk: The chance, high or low that somebody could be harmed by a hazard, together with an indication of how serious the harm could be.
Risk Profiling: The process of dentifying the risks, ranking/prioritising their importance and deciding on control measures.
Assessing Risk
List the criteria for a Risk Assessment to be suitable and sufficient
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- Identify all significant risks
- be proportionate to the risk and use examples of good practice
- consider everyone who might be affected (workers, off site, public)
- demonstrate that reasonable steps have been taken to identify hazards (e.g. by researching relevant legislation, guidance, supplier manuals, manufacturers’ instructions or advice from competent sources)
- be appropriate to the nature of the work
- Identify the period of time for which it is likely to remain valid.
- ensure all aspects of the work activity are reviewed, including routine and non-routine activities
- be systematic in identifying hazards and looking at risks (e.g. by: grouping hazards / dividing site geographically /operation by operation
- take account of the way in which work is organised, and the effects this can have on health
Assessing Risk
Sensible Risk Management
What should sensible risk management do?
Sensible health and safety risk management is about saving lives, and preventing injuries and illness. It should:
- ensure workers and the public are properly protected
- benefit society by reducing risks which arise most often and have serious consequences
- enable innovation and learning, and not stifle them
- ensure that those who create risks manage them responsibly and understand that failure to manage them responsibly will lead to robust action
- Make sure individuals understand that they have to exercise responsibility.
Assessing Risk
Risk Assessors
What makes a competent Risk Assessor
The employer is required to appoint one or more competent persons, to assist in conducting the risk assessments.
To be competent for straightforward risk assessments, risk assessors require:
- experience and training in hazard identification and carrying out risk assessments
- knowledge of the processes / activities to be assessed
- technical knowledge of the plant or equipment
- good communication and report writing skills
- ability to interpret legislation and guidance
- the right attitude for the task.
- an understanding of current best practice
- an awareness of the limitations of one’s own experience and knowledge
- the willingness and ability to obtain external help and advice when necessary
Assessing Risk
Risk Profiling
What should a risk profile examine? (4)
a risk profile may cover:
* the nature and level of risks
* the likelihood of incidents occurring
* Level of disruption and costs associated with each type of risk
* effectiveness of existing controls
Assessing Risk
Risk Profiling
What are the key actions for Risk Profiling (8)
- Identify who takes ownership of health and safety risks (owner, chief executive, committee, H&S board member)
- Think about the consequences of the worst possible occurrence for the organisation. Are plans are in place to control the effects?
- Ensure that risk assessments are carried out by a competent person with skills, knowledge and experience to manage H&S
- Maintain an overview of the risk-profiling process. Ensure Snr management are aware of the major risks
- Check that minor risks have not been given too much priority and that m major risks have not been overlooked. Identify who is responsible for implementing risk controls and over what timescale.
- Assess the effects of changing technology
- Think about issues related to changes in asset ownership. This may increase the risk profile if design information and knowledge haven’t been passed on
- Examine the effects of ageing plant and equipment
Assessing Risk
Sources of H&S information
List the various internal (5) and external (8) sources of information that can be used when completing a RA
Internal
1. knowledge and experience of managers and employees
2) accident, ill health and incident data
3) records of proactive and reactive monitoring, i.e. accident investigations and workplace inspections
4) records of audits and management reviews
5) other existing records such as training records, maintenance records, safety committee minutes and records of statutory inspections and examinations.
External
1. Subscription based H&S databases
2. Legislation, approved codes of practive and guidance
3. product information; safety data sheets/operating instructions
4. Standards (ISO45001)
5. Industry/trade association guidance
6. ILO (int Labour Organisation) codes of practice
7. Specialists and consultants
8. Research reports
Assessing Risk
The Risk Assessment Process
What are the 5 stages of the RA Process and briefly describe each one
Step 1: Identify the hazards
Use inspections, interviews, and int/ext sources and include non-routine activities and long-term effects. Hazards may be;
* Mechanical: e.g. moving parts of machinery or moving vehicles.
* Physical: e.g. noise or vibration energy, radiation, or electricity.
* Biological: e.g. legionella bacteria or blood borne viruses.
* Chemical: e.g. corrosive or toxic cleaning chemicals.
* Ergonomic: e.g. poor posture or repetitive work at a computer workstation.
* Psychosocial: e.g. pressure of work or shift-work
Step 2: Decide who might be harmed and how
Identify:
* the groups of people
* How they might be harmed
* What type of injury and ill health might occur.
Some groups will require specific RA: Young ppl, mothers, lone workers, disabled.
Step 3: Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions
Do all that is reasonably practical to protect ppl from harm.
1. Evaluate risk: how likely is harm to occur? How serious would harm be? Likelihood X Seriousness matrix table
2. Decide on precautions: how effective are existing controls? What more is needed? Use ERIC SP Hierarchy of control.
Step 4: Record the findings and implement them
Results of RA should be documented and shared with staff. Any actions should be incorporated into an action plan to prioritise their implementation.
A good action plan might include:
* ‘quick wins’ cheap/easy improvements
* long-term solutions to risks with the worstconsequences,
* plans for training employees on remaining risks and controls
* plans for monitoring to ensure control measures stay in place
* clear responsibilities for leading on individual actions
* target dates for completion.
Step 5: Review the risk assessment and update if necessary
Review on an ongoing basis to account for;
1. changes in equipment, substances and procedures.
2. Problems reported by the workforce
3. lessons learnt from accidents/near misses.
Formally review annually to check progress with action plan and to show consistancy in standards.
Specific Cases
What are the 4 specific cases for Risk Assessment and explain each
New and expectant mothers
Hazards may be PHYSICAL, BIOLOGICAL, CHEMICAL, WORKPLACE
Controls = adjust working hours/conditions, alternative work, suspension on pay.
Young persons U18
Should consider PHYSIOLOGICAL (inexperience, lack of awareness, need for supervision/training) & PSYCHOLOGICAL factors (fitting PPE, strength to operate controls, body dims)
Disabled Workers
Only RA if disability changes the way they work.
Disabled = substantial and longterm adverse effect on ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
Lone Workers
Includes; sole fixed establishments (petrol stations), separate workers (warehouses), out of hours workers (cleaners), mobile workers (postmen)
1) Can the risks be controlled by one person?
2) Does the workplace present a special risk?
3) Is there a risk of violence?
4) Is the person medically fit?
5) What training is required to ensure competency?
6) How will the person be supervised?
7) How will they be monitored?
Risk Control
Health and safety control measures are designed at three levels: what are they
> workplace precautions- point of risk (guarding)
risk control systems (RCSs) support workplace controls (training/supervisin)
management controls - manage risk (PDCA cycle)
Risk Control
What are the 8 principles of risk prevention
1 Avoid risks
If possible avoid a risk altogether, e.g. Do the work in a different way, taking care not to introduce new hazards.
2 Evaluate risks that cannot be avoided by carrying out a risk assessment.
3 Combat risks at source
Risks should be tackled at source, rather than taking measures to deal with the consequences.
Prevention is better than core or prevention is better than protection is better than mitigation.
If steps are slippery, treating or replacing them is better than displaying a warning sign.
4 Adapt work to the individual
Affected individuals should be consulted when designing workplaces, selecting work and personal protective equipment, and drawing up working and safety procedures. Monotonous work should be avoided where possible individuals should be given control over work they are responsible for.
5 Adapt to technical progress
Technological and technical advances often afford opportunities for improving working methods and
making them safer.
6 Develop a coherent overall prevention policy
Develop and implement a coherent policy to progressively reduce those risks that cannot be prevented
or avoided altogether, taking account of the way work is organised, the working conditions, the
environment and any relevant social factors.
7 Give collective measures priority over individual protective measures
Give priority to measures which protect the whole workplace and everyone who works there, and so give the greatest benefit (i.e. give collective protective measures priority over individual measures).
8 Give appropriate instructions
Ensure that workers understand what they need to do to help keep themselves and their colleagues safe
Risk Control
Hierarchies of Control
What would be considered when looking at the ‘Purpose of control’ and the ‘Nature of the control’
‘Purpose of the Control = prevention is better than protection is better than
mitigation.
‘Nature of the Control’ = engineering controls are generally regarded as more
reliable than procedural controls which in turn are better than behavioural controls.
Risk Control
Describe the hierarcy of risk control from ISO 45001
1) eliminate the hazard (use mechanical lifts)
2) ** substitute** with less hazardous processes, operations, materials or equipment (ie lower amps/pressure/temp)
3) use engineering controls and reorganisation of work (ventilation systems/guarding)
4) use administrative controls, including training, signage
5) use adequate personal protective equipment.
Risk Control
Describe the stages of ERIC SP
- Eliminate the hazard/task
- Reduce the hazard via substitution
- Isolate people from the hazard via guarding/barriers/rails
- Control exposure to the hazard via Engineering controls and organisational/procedural controls.
- Safe System of Work
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
