Human Factors and Behavioural Safety

Jeremy Stranks

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781136397516
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Industrial Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Accidents and cases of occupational ill-health are commonly associated with aspects of human behaviour and the potential for human error. Human Factors and Behavioural Safety is not written for psychologists, but instead gives health and safety professionals and students a broad overview of human factors and those aspects of human behaviour which have a direct effect on health and safety performance within organisations.Particular attention is paid to:
* the role of the organisation in promoting safe behaviour
* the sensory and perceptual processes of people
* behavioural factors, such as attitude, motivation and personality
* the process of attitude change
* theories of personal risk taking and accident * the importance of good communication, change management and stress management

1 Human behaviour and safety

Human behaviour has a direct influence on safety in many aspects of life – at work, in the home, on the road, in the air and at sea. Evidence drawn from past disasters, such as the incidents at Flixborough, Kegworth and Moorgate, and the Piper Alpha incident, indicate that failures in, or inappropriate, human behaviour were a significant contributory factor.

What is meant, then, by behaviour?

Definition of ‘behaviour’

‘Behaviour’ is variously defined as:

• how a person conducts himself;

• the demeanour and manners of an individual;

• an observable action of a person.

Behavioural sciences, therefore, are those sciences most concerned with the study of human and animal behaviour. This study allows the formation of general theories based upon the observation of specific events. The theories are subsequently used to explain observed events and, in some cases, to predict future events or outcomes.

The causes of human behaviour are associated with attitude, personality, motivation and memory, together with those physical and mental characteristics which constitute a person and his environment.

The study of human behaviour

Human behaviour is a wide area of study. The more significant areas of the study of human behaviour are outlined below.

Psychology

This is the science that studies the behaviour of human beings and animals. As a science, it is firstly empirical. Behaviour can be observed, recorded and studied resulting in the production of data derived from quantitative measurements. Secondly, it is systematic, in that, as a science, it endeavours to make sense of observations and summarizes these observations using established principles based on laws and accepted systems of classification.

Occupational psychology

Occupational psychology is concerned with the behaviour of people at work. It deals with areas such as the intelligence and aptitude required for work-related tasks, essential tests for the selection and placement of people, training and supervision requirements, the improvement of communications and, in some cases, the resolution of conflict involving employers and employees.

Human engineering (or engineering psychology) is another area of psychology which came to prominence during the Second World War. More commonly known as ‘ergonomics’, this area of human behaviour examines the design of equipment and the tasks of people who operate that equipment.

Sociology and social anthropology

This is a specialized area of psychology that is concerned with the behaviour of people as members of a group, at home, at work or in other circumstances. It studies the effects of group membership upon the behaviour, beliefs and attitude of an individual, together with the cultures and social structures of groups and societies existing together.

Anthropology

This is the study of the human race. It is the science of man and mankind with respect to physical constitution and condition.

Cognitive psychology

One of the changes that have taken place in recent years is the development of cognitive psychology, which stresses the importance of understanding. This has entailed a move away from ‘behaviourism’, where the individual was perceived merely to respond to external stimuli. Cognitive psychology sees people as active agents with ideas, plans and innovations. They are special people with internal mental structures who perceive the outside world within the framework of their own master plan, rather than responding to events and circumstances.

Perception, in its broadest sense, is an important element in this approach. This implies the formation of new attitudes, looking at the ‘broad picture’ and identifying both benefits and hazards arising from this approach.

Complexity of human behaviour

Human behaviour is a complex thing. People behave in different ways in different situations and no two people behave in the same way in a particular situation. This implies that all people are different in terms of their psychological make up.

Various theories have been proposed over the years, for example:

• The Genes Theory subscribes to the fact that all people have a particular mixture of genes which determine their behaviour.

• The Nature v Nurture Theory, on the other hand, seeks to ascertain whether the behaviour of people is due to their ‘nature’ (or genetics) or to their ‘nurture’, the environment in which they have been brought up.

Human behaviour is, however, associated with a range of factors which are considered below.

Factors affecting human behaviour

People behave in different ways in different circumstances. Moreover, individuals have their own particular modes and patterns of behaviour according to circumstances. These aspects of behaviour are associated with various psychological factors that contribute to the way a person behaves and include elements such as attitude, motivation, memory, personality and perception. Moreover, individual factors such as upbringing, past experience, a person’s environment, the level of knowledge and understanding, emotions and stress, greatly influence the way people behave.

Elements and functions of human behaviour

Occupational psychology is concerned with how behavioural factors such as attitude, motivation, perception, memory and training, together with the mental and physical capabilities of people, can interact with work activities with particular reference to health and safety issues. In particular, it considers the individual differences in people, human reliability and the potential for human error, all of which may be contributory factors in accidents.

The various aspects of human behaviour are considered below.

Attitude

‘Attitude’ can be defined in a number of ways:

• a predetermined set of responses built up as a result of experience of similar situations;

• a tendency to behave in a particular way in a particular situation;

• a tendency to respond positively (favourably) or negatively (unfavourably) to certain persons, objects or situations;

• a tendency to react emotionally in one direction or another.

Rokeach (1968) defined ‘attitude’ as ‘a learned orientation or disposition towards an object or situation which provides a tendency to respond favourably or unfavourably to the object or situation’.

Attitudes are acquired or learned as people progress through life. Part of the learning process involves conditioning. This is a restricted form of learning in which a single response is acquired.

Another aspect of learning and the development of attitude is the process of reinforcement. This is associated with two things: reward and punishment. Reward can take the form of praise for a job well done, financial reward in the form of a bonus for beating a sales target or company recognition of successful performance. Punishment, on the other hand, can include demotion within the organization or some form of financial penalty, such as a fine by a court. Both reward and punishment help to reinforce attitudes in many ways.

Attitudes are acquired in the same way that other responses are acquired, namely through classical and operant conditioning as part of the learning process.

Classical conditioning

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