This study explored the role that occupational noise disturbance has on construction worker negative emotions and behaviour. (NB: Yeah – they use the term “unsafe behaviour”, but if you look beyond that and consider how noise can influence behaviour more broadly then the findings are pretty relevant.) Data came from 100 Indonesian construction workers and… Continue reading Noise disturbance increases negative emotions and unsafe behaviour among construction workers

This was cool. It studied the relationships between safety climate (SC), safety risk, engineering design work, deadlines & work intensification. Argued is although SC is often seen as an always positive attribute, in some cases positive SC may increase the potential for harm. Specifically they argue that since designers are often detached from the harmful… Continue reading Safety climate and increased risk: The role of deadlines in design work

An interesting theoretical and mathematical paper discussing the potentially “ineffectual … traditional risk assessment and risk matrix approach” for accounting for synergistic hazards (e.g. the interaction of hazards, reflecting the complexity of real-world situations). Not a summary – so check out the paper: ·         “Maharaj (2012) has described synergistic hazards as those involving the interaction… Continue reading Calculation of the number of synergistic hazards and risks on construction sites that limits the efficacy of risk assessment matrices

This banger from 2007 discusses some statistical limits of injury frequency rates, and ways to improve them via statistical means. Note: Cards on the table – I’m a big user of statistical methods like Poisson distributions, negative binomials, statistical control charts etc. for lots of stuff in safety (especially indicators), so this paper was right… Continue reading Revealing the Real Picture Behind Safety Performance Statistics

A systematic overview on the risk effects of psychosocial work characteristics on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, and workplace accidents This evaluated the evidence on relationships between psychosocial work characteristics on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism and workplace accidents. 30 meta-analyses and systematic reviews met inclusion for evaluation (It’s from 2021 – so while recent, still misses a lot… Continue reading A systematic overview on the risk effects of psychosocial work characteristics on musculoskeletal disorders, absenteeism, and workplace accidents

This systematic review evaluated the research on leadership styles and safety performance in high-risk industries. 53 studies met inclusion criteria. ·         “Safety leadership refers to ‘the process of interaction between leaders and followers, through which leaders can exert their influence on followers to achieve organisational safety goals under the circumstances of organisational and individual factors”… Continue reading Leadership styles and safety performance in high-risk industries: a systematic review

A REALLY interesting older paper talking about Shell’s approach to injury indices – noting the need to push beyond the era of LTIs in 1991 (!). I’m relying on quotes, as the authors have done a far better job than I could. Note while the points they raise are pretty well-known now – I find… Continue reading Assessing Safety Performance After the Era of the LTI

I found this an interesting study which interviewed regulators, shipping company management and crew about their practices and opinions regarding safety management regulation in the Norwegian maritime industry. Although some of the findings may be specific to maritime, there’s other more generalisable findings I believe. They note that while personal injuries have been decreasing in… Continue reading One size fits all? Safety management regulation of ship accidents and personal injuries

This coronial inquiry likely won’t reveal anything earth shattering or novel to anybody – but it reinforced some useful perspectives on searching for systemic factors over individual blame. It describes a fatal marine accident between two vessels. The coroner notes: Ref: BLINN, ENGERT, INNES AND MOORE; Inquest into the deaths of Alan Blinn, James Engert,… Continue reading Coronial inquiry: Not hard to find human ‘culprits’ and “we must beware of falling prey to the fundamental attribution error (i.e. blaming people and ignoring situational factors)”

This studied the use of leader safety storytelling as a specific leader communication and its outcomes. Data included interviews with 41 leaders and team members. For background: ·         “Higher-quality leader safety messaging is also associated with improved worker safety performance and decreased lost time due to injuries” ·         “the existing literature points to leaders having… Continue reading Leader safety storytelling: A qualitative analysis of the attributes of effective safety storytelling and its outcomes