PSYC 457 Industrial Psychology

Transcription

1 PSYC 457 Industrial Psychology Session 12 PREVENTION OF INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS Lecturer: Dr. Maxwell A. Asumeng, Dept., of Psychology, UG, Legon Contact Information: College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/ /2017

2 Session Overview This session discusses how to promote occupational safety and health at work by preventing and reducing the number of industrial accidents. It discusses various methods of preventing industrial accidents including: Selection and placement/ actuarial prediction, training, changing jobs, commitment to safety cultures, behavioral change and safety legislation Slide 2

3 Session Objectives At the end of the session, the student will Understand and explain how to promote occupational safety and health by accident prevention Understand and explain major methods of preventing industrial accidents in Ghana. Understand and explain Occupational Safety and Health Regulations in Ghana, and how the regulations are enforced to reduce industrial accidents. Slide 3

4 Session Outline The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows: Topic One: Accident Prevention Topic Two : Safety Legislation Topic Three: Safety Cultures Slide 4

5 Reading List Aamondt, M. G. (2016). Industrial/Organizational Psychology: An Applied Approach (5 th ed.). Belmont, C.A: Wadsworth/Thompson. Arnold, J. (2005). Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the workplace (4 th ed.). England: Prentice Hall. Landy, F. J. & Conte, J. M. (2007). Work in the 21 st Century: An Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology (2 nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Millward, L. J. (2005). Understanding Occupational and Organisational Psychology. London: Sage Pub. Muchinsky, P. M. (2012). Psychology applied to work (10 th ed.). Summerfield, NC: Hypergraphics Press. Slide 5

6 Topic One ACCIDENT PREVENTION Slide 6

7 ACCIDENT PREVENTION Comprehensive accident prevention and safety programmes should be possible to significantly reduce the number of accidents in most organizations. Main methods for reducing accidents; 1) Selection and placement; actuarial prediction 2) Training 3) Changing jobs (human factors) 4) Safety legislation 5) Commitment to Safety Cultures 6) Behavioral Change Slide 7

8 ACCIDENT PREVENTION Selection and Placement Actuarial Prediction Focuses on workers characteristics. One way to prevent accidents in a given job is to select workers with a low probability of having accidents on that job. Actuarial prediction is the process used to determine who is likely to have an accident, specifically, accident prone people. It refers to the prediction of behavior or outcomes based on biographical data (biodata). Slide 8

9 ACCIDENT PREVENTION Training Training programmes must focus on Engaging safe behaviours that is what must be done ( prescribed behaviours ) Avoiding risky behaviours (prohibitive behaviours). Slide 9

10 ACCIDENT PREVENTION Human Factors (Changing Jobs) Focus on changing jobs and promoting safe workplaces. Employers must ensure that their business environment is not rendered unsafe by the business operations. Slide 10

11 Topic Two SAFETY LEGISLATION Slide 11

12 SAFETY LEGISLATION Laws mandate that employers provide their workers with safe and healthful working conditions. These laws (i.e. occupational safety and health standards for industry) Provide safety and health standards, regulation and guidelines and requirements for protective clothing, pollution standards and specification for safety devices on buildings and equipment. Slide 12

13 SAFETY LEGISLATION Occupational Safety and Health at Work Regulations in Ghana Labour Regulations (2007) provide Occupational Safety and Health at Work Regulations under the health and employment section. 1) An employer shall take appropriate measures to safeguard the health and safety of employees. Slide 13

14 SAFETY LEGISLATION 2) An employer of business premise where: An occupational accident or disease occurs, or an employee dies or is incapacitated from work as a result of an accident or disease shall report to the Chief Labour Officer or The Inspector of Factories if the accident or disease occurs during or in the course of the employment of the employee. 3) An employer shall ensure that the business environment is not rendered unsafe by the business operations Slide 14

15 Topic Three SAFETY CULTURES Slide 15

16 SAFETY CULTURES Safety Cultures Concerned with the commitment to an organizations health and safety programmes by both individual workers and management. There are 3 elements necessary for the successful introduction and retention of a safety culture; awareness of, commitment to and competence in safety issues. intension Slide 16

17 SAFETY CULTURES Awareness: Awareness of safety issues must be introduced into the design process, the training and day to day operation of safety-critical systems of any kind from factory floor to office environment to construction sites and underground work systems and mines. Slide 17

18 SAFETY CULTURES Commitment: Managers and staff need to perceive the importance of safety as an integral part of the organisational practices. For safety environment, supervisors need to demonstrate that they care about safety working practices and received detailed safety instruction. Also there should be regular safety meetings Slide 18

19 SAFETY CULTURES Competence: There is the need for an organisation to appreciate and aggress the limitations and constraints whether of knowledge, experience, facilities or resources. Safety competence may require training, retraining, a wide and detailed knowledge of the working system and human appreciation of the limits of their competence within the system (Chmiel, 2000; Millward, 2005; Redmill, 1997) Slide 19

20 SAFETY CULTURES Behavioral Change Approaches Concerned with behaviour based interventions designed to encourage employees to take responsibility for their own safety performance and to foster self monitoring. Procedural checklists: Checklists have now been introduced as a standard procedure in many industries including aircraft and military operations. Error management: This damage limitation approach requires that employees are trained to actively avoid the negative consequences of error by dealing with them quickly and learning from experiences to reduce the likelihood of error reoccurance. Slide 20

21 SAFETY CULTURES Effective error management requires a learning attitude and an ability and motivation to detect error early. Training in safe behaviours not just the avoidance of unsafe behaviour (Geller, 2002; Grindle, Dickinson & Boetcher, 2000; Millward, 2005) Slide 21

22 ASSIGNMENT/SAMPLE QUESTIONS In what ways can the number of accidents be significantly reduced in most organisations. Enforcement of occupational safety and health laws is the most effective way to reduce the number of industrial accidents in Ghana. Discuss. Slide 22