SafetyInsights.org

Another on the issues of procedure use, based on survey of 72 operators in high-risk industries. The main issues for proper procedure use related to outdated procedures and onerous procedures leading to information overload. On the latter, critical risks & steps were reported to be buried in onerous procedures. Issues also related to accessibility of… Continue reading Investigating Written Procedures in Process Safety: Qualitative Data Analysis of Interviews from High Risk Facilities

This looked at the relationship between OHS hazard vulnerability and supervisor support on occupational injuries and illness. Survey data was received from >2k workers who were employed over 15hrs/week in a company with at least 5 employees and who had a direct supervisor. The usual limitations on cross sectional, self-reported survey data (e.g. recall and… Continue reading The Interplay Between Supervisor Safety Support and Occupational Health and Safety Vulnerability on Work Injury

This study examined the influence of counterfactual thinking on safety behaviour, including explanatory factors: safety knowledge, motivation & locus of control (LoC). 240 staff from a hospital were surveyed. Counterfactuals (CF) are ‘if only” thoughts that specify how past events … [or] actions could have ended up differently’ (p1). They include upward CF (UCF) which… Continue reading Improving workplace safety by thinking about what might have been: A first look at the role of counterfactual thinking

This explored the links between patterns of construction crew interactions on how they identify and communicate hazards. Social network analysis was used to model the social interactions. 18 active US construction crews were included in the study. The study specifically: Collected hazard recognition and communication data from the crews Modelled the safety interactions between the… Continue reading Modeling the role of social networks in situational awareness and hazard communication

This study surveyed 385 OHS Professionals (OHSP) to explore which influence tactics they use and the perceived efficacy of the tactics. First they covered the literature on influence tactics. They highlighted previous research showing that a OHSPs role & practices are organisationally and socially complex and often lacking in positional power. Females reported more frequent… Continue reading Influencing organizational decision-makers – What influence tactics are OHS professionals using?

This was really interesting. It studied how emotional states can influence hazard perception, assessment of safety risk and decision making in a simulated construction environment. 73 participants were involved in the experiment. I can’t describe the whole protocol, nor the findings, however participants navigated a high-fidelity virtual construction environment with different work activities. Once they… Continue reading Using Augmented Virtuality to Examine How Emotions Influence Construction-Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Safety Decisions

This looked at the impact of work-life balance on project performance with job burnout as a mediator and organisational support as a moderator. 230 surveys were returned from people within multiple telecommunication companies (within Pakistan). It’s noted that work-life balance shouldn’t be confused with spending equal time on and off work, but rather the appropriate… Continue reading Impact of work–life balance with the role of organizational support and job burnout on project performance

This study explored the use of safety-critical procedures in maritime transport. Interviews, observations and document reviews were included in the methodology. Before moving into the findings, the authors provide a nice overview of ideas around procedures and the perception of procedures. One line of research they cover argues that procedures aren’t just strict if-then scripts… Continue reading Why do they violate the procedures? – An exploratory study within the maritime transportation industry

Another study which explored and expanded on the ‘seductive allure of neuroscience explanations’ (SANE) phenomenon. SANE “is the finding that people overweight psychological arguments when framed in terms of neuroscience findings” (p1). That is, inclusion of irrelevant or flawed arguments using visual or verbal descriptions of neuroscience findings and brain images etc. lead to people… Continue reading Extending the seductive allure of neuroscience explanations effect to popular articles about educational topics

This is a pretty well-known and cited paper from 2009. Via ethnographic methodology, it explored the impact of a risk-awareness program on workers’ awareness of risk at two sites within a large contract maintenance organisation in Australia. The risk awareness program has two components, 1) a pocket card used by workers before commencing work to… Continue reading Exploring risk-awareness as a cultural approach to safety: exposing the gap between work as imagined and work as actually performed