The Participation Factor: How to Increase Involvement in Occupational Safety

Rating:
Summary: Important addition to OSH
Review: This is an important book. It opens up a new way of thinking about workplace safety and brings new approaches for safety and operational managers. It is a real step forward from Geller's "Working Safe".

E. Scott Geller has been one of the major presenters and proponents of the application of behavioural psychology approaches to safety. Now he has listened to his many contacts around the world and researched more widely to bring other branches of psychology (and other disciplines such as the quality movement) to bear on the question every manager and safety proponent asks: "Why don't people follow safety procedures?"

He rightly recognizes that the work environment has a huge role in this. If the work environment encourages unsafe behaviour, rewards production at any cost and champions swift and risky achievement over cautious system adherence then trying to influence the individual has little chance of success. He has clearly listened to behavioural safety's detractors who, rightly, are concerned with a focus on the individual rather than the system. Such a focus can quickly degenerate into a blame-the-worker culture.

Geller brings this into focus with an emphasis on the importance of the conversations that are the lifeblood of personal interaction. He asks that we chose our words carefully and with a consciousness of their impact on the listener. This seems obvious when it is explained but requires careful thought to put in place daily.

A real new area is the discussion of 'mindfulness'. This shines a light into the dark corner of human error which is evidenced in injury incidents where the person - despite training, observation, procedures and environmental safeguards - makes an inexplicable choice for an action which leads directly to an injury. Often the person cannot explain why they did the action. This problem has been known about for a long time. At times the person was blamed for carelessness or willful action, at times the impact of the person's home life has been suspected of creating distraction. Geller now opens up this with the outline of 'mindfulness'. Whether this is the end point for this issue is doubtful - but the awareness of it will clearly lead to debate and research.

A significant part of the book looks at the concepts of 'social influence' and Geller reports on (and presents) the development of a Social Influence Survey. This is an early report of a tool designed to explore whether individuals have different patterns of social influence. He makes it clear that there are no norms for this tool yet and therefore no conclusions about its long term validity and usefulness. However the early results appear to show variations and some patterns in the groups reported.

"The Participation Factor" is not the next "Working Safe". "Working Safe" is an easy to read introduction to the people side of safety and it has been read widely in workplaces - some distributing it to all staff. It continues to have great value for creating awareness and discussion.

"The Participation Factor" appears more suited to the safety practitioner and importantly to general managers. It is a thought provoking book for anyone in management. A significant highlight is the presentation of the role of "safety leadership" as different to "safety management". Careful application of the principles explained in the book could vitalise interest in safety in an organisation and, more importantly, provide a safety role for the most senior management. This group has often been ignored in the safety field apart from the superficial and condescending role of signing bland policy statements and presenting safety awards. Here are some things company leaders can do to become safety leaders - without becoming safety experts.

The book opens up new questions while providing suggestions for implementation. It is likely that the most benefit will come from readers who read, digest and apply the principles in their own interpretation.

It will be interesting to watch the debate and discussion towards the next milestone on the quest for safer workplaces.

Rating:
Summary: Important addition to OSH
Review: This is an important book. It opens up a new way of thinking about workplace safety and brings new approaches for safety and operational managers. It is a real step forward from Geller's "Working Safe".

E. Scott Geller has been one of the major presenters and proponents of the application of behavioural psychology approaches to safety. Now he has listened to his many contacts around the world and researched more widely to bring other branches of psychology (and other disciplines such as the quality movement) to bear on the question every manager and safety proponent asks: "Why don't people follow safety procedures?"

He rightly recognizes that the work environment has a huge role in this. If the work environment encourages unsafe behaviour, rewards production at any cost and champions swift and risky achievement over cautious system adherence then trying to influence the individual has little chance of success. He has clearly listened to behavioural safety's detractors who, rightly, are concerned with a focus on the individual rather than the system. Such a focus can quickly degenerate into a blame-the-worker culture.

Geller brings this into focus with an emphasis on the importance of the conversations that are the lifeblood of personal interaction. He asks that we chose our words carefully and with a consciousness of their impact on the listener. This seems obvious when it is explained but requires careful thought to put in place daily.

A real new area is the discussion of 'mindfulness'. This shines a light into the dark corner of human error which is evidenced in injury incidents where the person - despite training, observation, procedures and environmental safeguards - makes an inexplicable choice for an action which leads directly to an injury. Often the person cannot explain why they did the action. This problem has been known about for a long time. At times the person was blamed for carelessness or willful action, at times the impact of the person's home life has been suspected of creating distraction. Geller now opens up this with the outline of 'mindfulness'. Whether this is the end point for this issue is doubtful - but the awareness of it will clearly lead to debate and research.

A significant part of the book looks at the concepts of 'social influence' and Geller reports on (and presents) the development of a Social Influence Survey. This is an early report of a tool designed to explore whether individuals have different patterns of social influence. He makes it clear that there are no norms for this tool yet and therefore no conclusions about its long term validity and usefulness. However the early results appear to show variations and some patterns in the groups reported.

"The Participation Factor" is not the next "Working Safe". "Working Safe" is an easy to read introduction to the people side of safety and it has been read widely in workplaces - some distributing it to all staff. It continues to have great value for creating awareness and discussion.

"The Participation Factor" appears more suited to the safety practitioner and importantly to general managers. It is a thought provoking book for anyone in management. A significant highlight is the presentation of the role of "safety leadership" as different to "safety management". Careful application of the principles explained in the book could vitalise interest in safety in an organisation and, more importantly, provide a safety role for the most senior management. This group has often been ignored in the safety field apart from the superficial and condescending role of signing bland policy statements and presenting safety awards. Here are some things company leaders can do to become safety leaders - without becoming safety experts.

The book opens up new questions while providing suggestions for implementation. It is likely that the most benefit will come from readers who read, digest and apply the principles in their own interpretation.

It will be interesting to watch the debate and discussion towards the next milestone on the quest for safer workplaces.