The effect of habit as a behavioural response in risk reduction programmes

A company's decision to implement a risk reduction programme must take account of employees' behavioural responses to the target risk. Hazard reporting by train drivers is examined in semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire study. It is suggested that the behavioural response of drivers, in terms of writing a report, depends on how the hazard is perceived. The response to “trivial” and “routine” hazards is habitual non-reporting, being characterized by a lack of risk evaluation. However, hazards that are evaluated as posing a significant risk are reported. Possible ways of breaking habitual responses to hazards, using behavioural change programmes, are discussed, and it is argued that management commitment is essential for their success.     

Risk analysis and assessment methodologies in the work sites: On a review, classification and comparative study of the scientific literature of the period 2000-2009

The objective of this work is to determine and study, analyze and elaborate, classify and categorize the main risk analysis and risk-assessment methods and techniques by reviewing the scientific literature. The paper consists of two parts: a) the investigation, presentation and elaboration of the main risk-assessment methodologies and b) the statistical analysis, classification, and comparative study of the corresponding scientific papers published by six representative scientific journals of Elsevier B.V. covering the decade 2000-2009. The scientific literature reviewing showed that the risk analysis and assessment techniques are classified into three main categories: (a) the qualitative, (b) the quantitative, and (c) the hybrid techniques (qualitative-quantitative, semi-quantitative). The qualitative techniques are based both on analytical estimation processes, and on the safety managers-engineers ability. According to quantitative techniques, the risk can be considered as a quantity, which can be estimated and expressed by a mathematical relation, under the help of real accidents’ data recorded in a work site. The hybrid techniques, present a great complexity due to their ad hoc character that prevents a wide spreading. The statistical analysis shows that the quantitative methods present the highest relative frequency (65.63%) while the qualitative a lower one (27.68%). Furthermore the hybrid methods remain constantly at a very low level (6.70%) during the entire processing period.     

What is most important for safety climate: The company belonging or the local working environment? – A study from the Norwegian offshore industry

Obtaining knowledge about factors affecting health, safety and environment (HSE) is of major interest to the petroleum industry, but there is currently a severe shortage of relevant studies. The aim of this study was to examine the relative influence of offshore installation (local working environment) and company belonging on employees’ opinions concerning occupational health and safety. We analyzed data from a safety climate survey answered by 4479 Norwegian offshore petroleum employees in 2005 on the dimensions “Safety prioritisation”, “Safety management and involvement”, “Safety versus production”, “Individual motivation”, “System comprehension” and “Competence” using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA), effect size and mixed model. The companies differed significantly for “Safety prioritisation”, “Safety versus production”, “Individual motivation”, “System comprehension” and “Competence”. The local offshore installation explained more of the safety climate than the company they were employed in or worked for did.     

Measurement techniques for organizational safety causal models: Characterization and suggestions for enhancements

Through a review of literature from diverse disciplines with actual and potential application to causal modeling of organizational safety risk, this paper explores issues regarding measurement techniques in a quantitative safety analysis context. The interdependencies of modeling perspectives, constructs, and measures are indentified, leading to (a) characterization and classification of measurement techniques, (b) suggestions on the selection of appropriate measurement methods for different types of model constructs including individual-level, global, configural, and shared, and (c) discussion of the modeling implications of interactions between measurement, constructs, and causal paths. A multi-dimensional perspective is offered through combinations of different “measurement methods” and “measurement bases”. A Bayesian approach is also proposed to operationalize the multi-dimensional measurements. Examples are provided to help explain the roles of these measurements in capturing the relation between organizational factors and safety performance. This paper is a product of research which has the primary purpose of extending Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) modeling frameworks to include the effects of organizational factors as the fundamental causes of accidents and incidents.     

Application of domino effect quantitative risk assessment to an extended industrial area

Escalation of primary accidental scenarios triggering a “domino effect” have caused extremely severe accidental events in the chemical and process industry. The identification of possible escalation events is required in the safety assessment of sites where relevant quantities of hazardous substances are stored or handled. In the European Union, “Seveso-II” Directive requires the assessment of on-site and off-site possible escalation scenarios in sites falling under the obligations of the Directive. In the present study, a methodology developed for the quantitative assessment of risk due to domino effect was applied to the analysis of an extended industrial area. Recently developed equipment damage probability models were applied for the identification of the final scenarios and for escalation probability assessment. The domino package of the Aripar-GIS software was used for risk recomposition. The results evidence that quantitative risk assessment of escalation hazard is of fundamental importance in order to identify critical equipment and to address prevention and protection actions.     

Fire risk management system for safe operation of large atmospheric storage tanks

This paper has been prepared by its authors to show the benefits coming from the application of the fire risk assessment methodology prepared by the “LastFire^© Project” group of experts. Now a days this methodology seems to be very effective to face the fire risk connected with large atmospheric storage tanks. It has been developed during the period 1997–2005 the HSE & operations experts from experts 16 worldwide operating oil companies. The authors, by “ad hoc” created software package, show the benefit coming from the applications of the LastFire^© methodology and how, from this, using the methodology and the supporting tad, realize a coherent fire strategy in the form of a Fire Risk Management System. Same workflow could also be extended to the issues connected with other problems related with large atmospheric tanks storing hydrocarbons, such as environmental impact by soil pollution, to create a common frame walk of assessment not can be shared with authorities as well. The proposed methodology, moving from the original project, sets as an effective “Fire Hazard Management Approach” in line with the most recent trends (even enforced by the regulations) shared at international levels, that propose the integration of risk assessment with prevention and protection measures selection based on achieved risk reduction, costs, time needed, etc.     

Risk and system integrity concepts for safety-related control systems

This paper provides an overview of the concepts of “risk” and “safety-integrity” in relation to safety-related electrical/electronic/programmable electronic systems. The paper is an abridged version of Annex A of the emerging International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Standard; “Functional safety of electrical/electronic/programmable electronic systems”. Although based on Annex A, the authors have deviated in a few instances, from the strict wording of Annex A in order to more properly represent their own views. Where this occurs, a note in the text has been added to alert the reader of the deviation. The concepts of risk (including tolerable risk; safety integrity; safety-related system; System and Software Integrity Levels) are discussed.     

Risk assessment of antagonistic hazards

This paper considers the risk to major hazard plant from terrorists deliberately causing catastrophic industrial accidents. The United States of America Department of Justice [Assessment of the increased risk of terrorist or other criminal activity associated with posting off-site consequence analysis information on the internet, 2000] reports that “breaching a containment vessel of an industrial facility with an explosive or otherwise causing a chemical release may appear relatively simple to…a terrorist”. They concluded that the risk of such action is “real and credible”.

Analysis of terrorism is often hampered by its being described as ‘irrational’; one corollary would be that it is unpredictable. However, terrorism may usefully be treated as a rational behaviour and in doing so it becomes possible to assess the risks it causes.

We analyse the vulnerability of major hazard plant to terrorist attack and identify nine factors (access, security, visibility, opacity, secondary hazard, robustness, law enforcement response, victim profile, and political value) that might be used as a starting point for more formal risk assessment and management.     

A theoretical and methodological framework for studying and modelling drivers’ mental representations

This article provides a synthetic overview of the research programme carried out at INRETS-LESCOT over the last 10 years, in view to studying and modelling the mental representations of car drivers. Theoretically, this research is in line with two complementary scientific traditions: Human Information Processing theories on the one hand, and theories of Operative Activity on the other. As discussed in Section 1 of the article, attention is given to the functional representations of drivers, constructed “by” and “for” the action, such as they are implemented in a driving situation, and taking into account both implicit and explicit dimensions. This aim directly impacts on the methodological approach implemented, in so far as it entails defining an “experimental continuum” ranging from naturalistic observations of the driving activity (on the open road), to setting up more controlled experimental protocols in order to permit in-depth, systematic and reproducible scientific investigations of drivers’ cognition. Section 2 of the article presents a synthetic view of these methods, while Section 3 presents several significant results obtained with them. Lastly, the final part of the article focuses on the computational formalism defined at INRETS-LESCOT (i.e. the driving schemas) designed to model driver knowledge and mental representations, and developed in a COgnitive Simulation MOdel of the DRIVEr called COSMODRIVE.     

Expert opinions, fuzzy probabilities, and warnings: toward a mathematical method for evaluating warning “read and heed” effectiveness

In many situations, and particularly in legal matters, decisions may be based on whether some possibility is judged to be “more probable than not”, as for example, whether a warning, had it been present, would “more probably than not” have prevented an injury. The probability of a warning accomplishing its purpose of preventing injury can, in principle, be computed based on probability calculus. However, this paper proposes that: (1) such computations must use “fuzzy” probability statements which as a result produce a range of weighted possibilities for the final outcome and, moreover; (2) the critical statistic for determining whether the outcome is “more probable than not” is the median rather than the mean of the possible outcomes. This paper briefly outlines the mathematics for such computations and provides several examples. The paper basically treats fuzzy probabilities as standard “random variables” restricted to the range of [0,1].For brevity, this paper only treats the multiplication of two or more fuzzy probabilities. However, this is adequate for evaluation of a two stage “read and heed”, or of longer multiple step linear sequences and is indicative of the general approach. Treatment of the additive and general case will be found in later publications.     

Occupational health and safety promotion: Problems and solutions

Most occupational safety and health (OSH) professionals would agree that having a good OSH promotion programme is a challenge, and problems can be encountered at almost every stage in the planning and delivery of the programme.The first obstacle which may be encountered is programme justification. How does one convince employers and employees of the need for OSH promotion, and does competition from “Wellness Programmes” reduce available resources? Programme planning, deciding what constitutes a programme, and what to include in the OSH promotion programme, may be a dilemma. The programme implementation, deciding who implements the activities and how a programme is sustained, may be other difficult issues. Finally, programme evaluation can be problematic: How is it done properly? and Who should evaluate the programme?Possible solutions to these problems may include the costing of work accidents and occupational ill health to justify the need and benefits of an OSH programme, and riding on the bandwagon of “wellness promotion” instead of competition for limited resources. In programme planning, knowing what is wanted and employing a professional to plan the programme is essential. The programme coverage should encompass health and safety issues, and preventive strategies should be directed towards both environment and lifestyle factors. There should be a prioritization of topics according to the needs of workers. The choice of OSH professionals versus “wellness promoters” or human resource officers as programme co-ordinators may affect the programme outcome. Training supervisors and line workers to be trainers would involve those directly in contact with work hazards in the programme. Programme evaluation is crucial. There should be provision for both process and outcome evaluations, and pains should be taken to ensure independence and objectivity of evaluations. The idea of linking programme results to the OSH personnel assessments is worth considering.The delivery of OSH promotion programmes in a relevant and effective manner poses a real challenge. While some obstacles and problems appear to be insurmountable, these challenges have to be faced and overcome in order to achieve the goals of protecting and promoting the health of the worker.     

Strategies for controlling hazards at work

This paper presents an heuristic framework for analyzing hazards (potential for loss or harm) and strategies that may be developed to control their realization. Two basic forms of intervention for hazard control (anticipation and reaction) are identified. Three broad anticipative strategies are discussed: (1) elimination of the source of the hazard, (2) containment of the risk of its realization, and (3) mitigation of likely consequences. The communication and judgmental processes involved in decisions about strategies are shown to be embedded in the organizational “political” context, in which a variety of interests backed by varying sources of power and influence are represented. The development, implementation, and monitoring of any strategies that are decided upon are then discussed, including the fact that such actions and events may not produce the intended results. Comments are also made on the need for data provided by monitoring to be evaluated and appropriate adaptations made. Finally, a brief section of the paper discusses reactive strategies.     

What-You-Look-For-Is-What-You-Find – The consequences of underlying accident models in eight accident investigation manuals

Accident investigation manuals are influential documents on various levels in a safety management system, and it is therefore important to appraise them in the light of what we currently know – or assume – about the nature of accidents. Investigation manuals necessarily embody or represent an accident model, i.e., a set of assumptions about how accidents happen and what the important factors are. In this paper we examine three aspects of accident investigation as described in a number of investigation manuals. Firstly, we focus on accident models and in particular the assumptions about how different factors interact to cause – or prevent – accidents, i.e., the accident “mechanisms”. Secondly, we focus on the scope in the sense of the factors (or factor domains) that are considered in the models – for instance (hu)man, technology, and organization (MTO). Thirdly, we focus on the system of investigation or the activities that together constitute an accident investigation project/process. We found that the manuals all used complex linear models. The factors considered were in general (hu)man, technology, organization, and information. The causes found during an investigation reflect the assumptions of the accident model, following the ‘What-You-Look-For-Is-What-You-Find’ or WYLFIWYF principle. The identified causes typically became specific problems to be fixed during an implementation of solutions. This follows what can be called ‘What-You-Find-Is-What-You-Fix’ or WYFIWYF principle.     

Safety analysis of slipping barefoot on marble covered wet areas

This study was conducted in order to determine the suitable surface processing techniques which will increase the safety of pedestrians, reducing the risk of slipping on wet floor coverings on which they walk barefoot. In the scope of the study, slip angle of surface-processed marbles in three different dimensions is determined by using DIN 51097 Standard “The determination of the characteristics that reduce slipping on wet, barefoot surfaces”. Slip angles were calculated with the help of an inclined plane method and by using three different surface processing techniques (polishing, honing and tumbling techniques) for five different types of marble. It was found that the parameters which affected slip angle values of the marbles were surface roughness, plate sizes, grain size of the abrasives used for surface processing, physical and mechanical properties. Statistical analysis was used to determine the relationship between these parameters. The marbles were then grouped according to safe utilization places depending on slip angle and surface roughness, according to the statistical results.     

Making sense of invulnerability at work—a qualitative study of police drivers

This paper reports a qualitative study of 54 police drivers who were interviewed about their views on police driver training, driving strategies and their accident involvement. Study of the transcribed interviews indicated that officers constructed narratives of themselves as being highly aware of hazards presented by other road users and they used a variety of discursive devices to minimise their own culpability and attribute risk elsewhere. Rather than maintaining a straightforward ‘illusion of invulnerability’ they were formulating a ‘topography of risk’ in which they were responding to hazards presented by suspects or other road users. Their meticulously detailed accounts of the circumstances surrounding accidents serve to place them as knowledgeable and impartial participants and create a sense of expertise and authority. Training initiatives could profitably seek to challenge this ‘topography of risk’ and sense of authority so that drivers more fully appreciate the hazard they may present to themselves and the public.     

Warning variables affecting personal protective equipment use

This paper describes two studies conducted to test selected warning variables for their influence on the use of personal protective equipment. Both of the studies were field demonstrations; one conducted in a recreational setting and the other as part of a consumer product scenario. Each of the studies involved manipulations that could be practically implemented in many warning situations. Both studies showed that cost strongly influenced the use of personal protective equipment. “Cost” was shown to include parameters of time and difficulty with obtaining the equipment. The results indicate that a small increase in cost can devastate equipment use rates. Additional factors that were shown to positively influence equipment use under at least some circumstances include: (1) the addition of “specific consequence” information, including accident frequency and severity data, to standard warning signs/labels; and (2) product labels requiring physical manipulation by the consumer for product use.     

A learning-by-doing strategy to improve top management involvement in safety

The growth of legal regulations in occupational safety during the 70's alienated to some extent top management from health and safety issues; safety was regarded as an activity of safety professionals and labour inspection. This lack of commitment to safety management led to reduced activity and awareness. However, both research and practice indicate that the role of top management is of crucial importance for achieving results in safety.Having realized the problem and the lack of appropriate training to meet the demands of top management, a program called “One hour for safety management” has been developed. The training is arranged in an “action” setting, during the formal meeting of the executive board of the company. The program consists of four main parts: (1) Principles of modern safety management, (2) The company's accident insurance system, the interdependency between compensation costs and premiums, (3) The safety situation of the company; accidents, premiums and losses, hazards, safety program, and (4) Setting the safety targets and action plans required. More recently, a short audit process has been developed to reveal the important sources of loss and the state of affairs in the company's loss control systems. A special software package includes essential handouts of the safety management meetings complemented by self-auditing tools.The approach initiated or revived top management interest in and awareness of safety in several companies. The success of the meeting seems to depend on several factors, e.g. consultation skills, safety expertise, style of presentation, corporate culture and co-operation in the preparation of the session. The factors that contribute to an effective training for top management should further be analyzed, and the impact of the management training on accident rates is a task for evaluation studies in future.     

Bifocal/varifocal spectacles, lighting and missed-step accidents

Good lighting and the correct use of spectacles generally improve vision and presumably reduce the risk of accidents. However, bifocal and varifocal spectacles can increase the risk of misjudging distances when negotiating underfoot hazards. In some circumstances, the portion of the lens used for close work may inadvertently be used where accurate judgement of distance is necessary. This paper reports results from two studies of patient interviews using the Merseyside Accident Information Model; the first a study of accidents which occurred during paid employment (1504 cases) and the second of 1326 accidents mainly in domestic and leisure activities. Underfoot accidents were identified by the first unforeseen event perceived by the patient. The relationship between underfoot events and the type of spectacles worn by the patient at the time of accident was analysed. In both studies there was a significant association between accidents where the first event was ‘missed edge of’ (step) and wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles. Corporal movements reported in both studies indicated that ‘stepping down’ when wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles, increased the risk of ‘missed edge’ accidents. In the work environment corporal movements associated with manual handling of loads also increased the risk of ‘missed edge’ accidents when wearing bifocal/varifocal spectacles.