I recently attended ASSE’s Safety 2012 PDC. It was the first time attending this conference. I was impressed with the expansive exhibit hall. There were a few products which caught my attention which I will highlight in this and upcoming blogs.
I’m attending and presenting at ASSE Safety 2012 this week. The speaker of one session I attended yesterday said something that really got my attention. He was talking about how to influence employee behavior in order to achieve better safety performance. He was explaining that it is difficult to get employees to behave safely. Then he said this, “We (meaning safety professionals) have to admit that it is harder (for employees) to work safer than not.” I was taken aback from that statement. Working safely shouldn’t be harder than working unsafe–unless, of course, the work environment,
In my previous blog I described the how behavioral based safety and ergonomics are not the same and definitely do not utilize the same approach. That being said, companies are really good at identifying “bad” employee behavior and using policy, observations and enforcement to correct it. So the question becomes how do companies who aren’t versed in ergonomics learn how to change behavior through workplace design? Let’s start with a simple framework on which built upon.
There are basically 7 steps to determining design solutions to change behavior.
I recently attended a presentation in which the speaker was trying to make the case that behavioral safety and ergonomics are virtual the same and go hand in hand together. He started off by saying that bad behaviors are caused by bad ergonomics and that good ergonomics can produce wanted (good) behaviors. I totally agreed with him but then he gave the following example:
This hasn’t been the week for me in terms of health. It started last weekend with a nasty sore throat and by Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I had a fever of 102. Not being accustomed to being sick, especially having a fever, I decided to go into an Urgent Care clinic. Despite having a fever, chills and body aches I was able to focus on the incorporation of ergonomics into the design and equipment of the exam room. Here are a few observations that caught my attention for meeting/fitting the needs of the patients and caregivers alike:
