Management of Safety, Health & Environmental Project Risks: Behavioural Safety - Coursework Example

Full-Time Part-Time Programme YR Programme YR MSc Building Services Engineering Building Services Engineering MSc Construction Economics Building Surveying MSc Construction Management Construction Management MSc Energy & Environmental Mgt Environmental Civil Engineering MSc International Project Mgt Environmental Management & Planning MSc Real Estate Management Fire Risk Engineering MSc Sustainable Energy Technology Interior Design MSc Waste Management Property Management & Valuation Quantity Surveying Module Number: MMK221205 Due Date: 13/12/13 LECTURERS NAME: Module Title: Management of SHE Project Risks Lecturer Name: Dr Billy Hare Coursework Title: Managing a multi-cultural workforce Mark/Grade 1. Introduction It is a common belief by many people who are concerned with issues of health and safety of workers in construction projects that approximately 80 % of accidents that are related to work are usually as a result of human behaviour (Loewenstein et al, 2001). There are a number of reasons as to why employees in a construction project may engage in risky behaviour including: reducing the number of comers to save time, reasons related to the ergonomics of the project, practices that are accepted in the project, risky behaviour may be triggered by the actions of supervisors, misunderstanding among the workers and some workers may have an instinctive risk taking behaviour (Caruso, 2010). The main emphasis on improvement of the safety of employees at a construction site will mainly focus on the behaviour of the employees. The rates of injuries can be reduced by influencing the behaviour of the workers. However this task oriented view of the behaviour at the work stations cannot be used as a replacement for the random inspections and work audits to assess the conditions of the working environment (Nazaruk, 2010). Behaviour safety is a crucial segment of the natural development of the management of the safety practices from prescriptive approaches that are considered to be very high through the procedural systems which have been adopted by many of the progressive companies that are in operation to a system that now recognizes the employees as human beings who are mature and have an interest that is genuine in their own welfare and well being and are best able to contribute to their own safety through the realization that themselves can influence their own safety (Nazaruk, 2010). This research paper will focus on the best practices that can be employed in construction projects and how the employers and employees can influence the safety of the workplace. To achieve this, the reinforcement of safe behaviours and reduction of the unsafe practices shall be examined. 2. Literature review This topic of behaviour based safety (BBS) has been in discussion for quite a very long time. Behaviour based safety (BBS) has its origin from the work done by William Heinrich in the early years of industrialization in the 1930s (Robertson, 2010). He worked for Traveller’s Insurance Company and he made an analysis of the accidents that were reported by the supervisors to the insurance company and he concluded that most of the accidents, the illnesses and injuries at the workplaces can be attributed to failures by human beings or unsafe behaviour of the workers. Heinrich reviewed a number of reports on the accidents reported at workplaces and he found out that about 73 % of the cases were as a result of human negligence and he came to a conclusion that about 88 % of all the accidents, illnesses and injuries that occur at the places of work are usually as a result errors by the workers. However, this research does not explain the reason for the accident to occur but only reports the occurrence of the accident. The behaviour based safety (BBS) programs dig into the causes of the accidents and also into the workplaces, the work environment, the equipment used, the procedures followed and the attitude of the workers. In order to identify the put the associate in a position of risk, the basis organizational behaviour analysis is used. Heinrich came up with a publication of his work whereby he described his findings derived from the evaluation of the accidents from an extensive data base that had been compiled by the insurance company. He concluded that about 90 % of all the accidents are usually as a result of errors caused by humans (Dell, 2009). This formed the basis for the current view of behaviour based safety (BBS) today. BBS today takes the approach of additional reasons for injuries at places of work and the pioneers in this science did more extensive research and established the working interface which was defined as the point whereby exposure to injuries normally occurs. Dr. E. Scott Geller came up with the term behaviour based safety (BBS) in 1979 and together with his colleagues at safety performance solutions (SPS) went on to implement behaviour based safety (BBS) all over the world (Geller, 2001). With time, behaviour based safety (BBS) has become an important skill in offices and laboratories too. Today, it is defined as the application of the science of behaviour to the problems of the real world whereby there are a number of programs for monitoring the behaviour safety. 3. Discussion Behavioural safety can be defined as a process, through which working groups can be able to identify, make measurements and change their behaviours. Behavioural safety normally shares a concern with the behaviour of human beings and safe performance in places of work with some other approaches (Dell, 1999). This actually implies that any program that is considered as a program for behavioural safety, it must meet the set standards for research in behaviour analysis. How behaviour safety works Behaviour analysis can be defined as the science involved with the change in behaviours. Applied behaviour analysis on the other hand is the application of the behavioural analysis to problems in the real world including safety concerns at places of work (Marsh, 2003). In order to get a deeper understanding of this concept, the following systematic relationships that exist between changes in the environment, the specific behaviour and the consequences of the behaviour must be analyzed (Marsh, 2003). The lessons that have been learned in the laboratory research are applied in behavioural analysis to make a better overview of the human behaviour in the day to day life. Behavioural practices that are sound and sensible usually have the following practices. 1. Specification of the desired behavioural performance If one desires to improve safe practices in construction projects, he must specify the expected behavioural practices. Alternatively, one may specify the expected outcomes such as a building that is free of all possible hazards. The process of making these specifications in order to achieve optimal performance can be employed periodically to ensure that human performance is correctly measured and evaluated. 2. Measurement of the safety performance In this case one may use the criteria used for evaluation of the performance of a safe place of work and therefore he can sample and make random measurements of human performance against the defined criteria. These measurements that have been done are normally recorded and hence become an integral part of the database. 3. Shaping of safe performance via feedback and other possible consequences Research into the performance of the behaviour on learning teaches us very crucial lessons on how to build improvement of performance. Firstly, the most important lesson is the power of the resulting consequences. With proper design and use, the feedback of the performance is likely to produce some positive feedback (Marsh, 2003). In the application of the behavioural research to the possible solutions in building it gives a demonstration of how reliable technology can be in the changes in human behaviour. Not a single field of psychology has been able to do this in a successful manner (Anderson, 2008). Several methods can be used to analyze behavioural safety as discussed below. a. The use of conversation in order to alter behavioural influences There are a number of elements that influence the behaviour of people including how human beings process information, how they read situations and how they interpret them depending on their environment as well as the social code. Human emotions are also very influential factors that usually have a great influence on the behaviour of human beings in decision making and extensive research has shown that influence of the emotions is directly as a result of the high level of uncertainty (Anderson, 2008). Research has shown that there are two possible reasons for this including the fact that the future is a very powerful response of the emotions and also the fact that the future is normally perceived as being more uncertain than the past. This concept normally has a great deal of relevance in the field of health and safety in the situation where a possible involvement is an injury, it is likely to result into a larger and much stronger emotional reaction than having to think about the past (Anderson, 2008). The thought of future harm is likely to trigger much stronger emotions. Some very specific emotions including fear and anxiety normally affect judgment and decision in a very significant manner such that they will give rise low risk behaviour Use of imagination In order to put this idea into perspective, we must find ways through which we trigger the imagination and make people think about the possible consequences of unsafe behaviour. This is normally achieved through the use of appropriate questioning techniques (Marsh, 2003). The right questions can be used in order to stimulate the imagination and thinking of the employees. This eventually activates the brain and is responsible for emotional reaction to the risk. The purpose of questioning is normally to start a dialogue and stimulate thinking about any future events and the likely consequences (Baker et al, 2007). Of great importance is the manner in which the questions are asked and the managers and project supervisors must wait for the response from the employees. While asking questions about possible consequences of unsafe acts, it is advisable that one should be humorous and make the conversation as natural as it is possible. Dialogues and consequences A wide range of factors normally influence the behaviour of employees and each of these different strengths and different people normally value different items. Some of the employees may prefer going home safe because of their families while others may be prefer to maintain a particular image among their peers while others may just want not to be viewed as troublemakers (Hudson, 2001). It is very crucial to speak to people about the possible consequences from the perspective of what matters to them. With workers who are familiar with each other, one would definitely know what is of importance to them. After the talk, it can then be agreed on the course of action. Implementation There are a number of ways to implement the course of action determined above at the place of work but of great importance is to have a dialogue about some possible consequences if the employees are exposed to hazards (Baker et al, 2007). If the questioning supervisors who conduct this exercise do a proper job, they can be trained in order to develop their investigative skills and also a group of employees can be identified and trained on how to interact with each other. b. The method of effective and engaging training The culture of a company also influences the health and safety of the employees either supporting it or undermining it. The executive involved with health and safety normally defines the culture of safety (Baker et al, 2007). A crucial part of the development and sustainability of a strong culture of safety is through addressing the behaviour of workers. Some companies have actually perfected this through storytelling and drama activities. In order to embed and provide sustainability to this culture of safety, the construction company must perfect the art of learning and analyzing the root causes of the underlying problems. The employees should be encouraged to ask questions and also be integrated into questions about practice (Hudson, 2001). The knowledge about our attitudes and values is normally encrypted in our own behaviours. To use this method, picturing the scene can be used. This can be done through story telling using a program that is already structured in the form of drama. This method encourages interactions and hence improves the work culture at the workplaces. 1. Conclusion and recommendations From the foregoing, it can be concluded that the safety of any workplace is usually influenced by a number of factors such as the organization of the environment, the attitude and commitment of the management and the nature of the job. The incorporation of the process of behavioural safety which is focused on improving the safety of the work environment is a suitable way of improving performance (Marsh, 2003). There has been a great popularity in the use of behavioural programs and research has proved that a great number of accidents result from unsafe behaviours. The focus should not only be on treating the unsafe behaviours but also to give a remedy to the causes of this unsafe behaviour. The behaviour based safety programs are already in use today in many organizations and this has ensured there is a proper way managing the basic safety requirement of the workers (Hudson, 2001). Based on the evidence from research works, it is recommended that the technique of behaviour modification be applied and implemented in order to promote proper health and safety behaviours which must be implemented with support from the management of the organization. The organizations should adopt behavioural modification programs which mainly focus on promotion of safe behaviour among the staff. 2. References Loewenstein, GF, Weber, EU, Hsee, CK and Welch, N (2001): ‘Risk as feelings’, in Psychological Bulletin, 127 (2), 267-286 Caruso, EM (2010): ‘When the future feels worse than the past: A temporal inconsistency in moral judgement’, in Journal of experimental psychology, 139 (4), 610-624 Nazaruk, M (2011): ‘Influencing Behaviour – Picture This’, online document Robertson, G (2010):’Behavioural Safety – Play Safe’, online document HSE (2002): ‘Safety Culture – review of the literature’, HSL 2002/25. Dell, G (1999): ‘Safe place vs. Safe person: A Dichotomy, or is it?’Safety Science monitors 3, Article 12, Special Addition Geller, ES (2001):’Behavioural Safety: meeting the challenge of making a large-scale difference’ The Behaviour Analyst Today, 2(2), 64-75 BAO Marsh, T (2003):’Pillars of a Safe Society’, Safety and Health Practitioner, 21 2, pp22-24 Anderson, M (2008):’Beyond behaviour’, Safety and Health Practitioner, 26 3, pp59-62 Baker J et al (2007): BP US Refineries Independent Safety Review Panel Hudson, PTW (2001):’Safety management and safety culture: the long, hard and winding road’, in Pearse, W, Gallagher, C & Bluff, L (Eds.) Occupational health and safety management systems, Crown content, Melbourne, Australia Read More