Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Figure 4.11 Consultation with employees increases
commitment to safety systems
Employees who believe themselves to be an integral
part of the decision-making processes at work feel
motivated to safety standards and contribute in often
quite unexpected ways that have a positive impact
on safety standards. In contrast a workforce that feels
disconnected with management and develops a feeling
that their views are of little value can very easily adopt a
cynical approach to safety which results in a massively
negative impact on safety standards.
This is a rather simplifi ed view of the cause and effect
of human behaviour on the safety standards of organisations.
The full picture is somewhat more complex, and
the next section discusses human behaviour in terms of
what it is, how it can affect safety in the workplace and
how knowledge of how humans behave at work can be
used to improve safety standards.
4.8 Human behaviour
In attempting to understand how individuals may behave
in the workplace, it is important to consider what is
termed ‘human factors’. An understanding of human factors
will enable organisations to understand and manage
the effects that humans have upon risk control systems.
The safety of the employees will always depend, to
a greater or lesser degree, on their own skill and ability
to work ‘safely’, based on their training, knowledge and
experience. Under normal conditions, the competence of
individuals makes an essential contribution to workplace
Organisational
Safety culture
safety. The knowledge, experience and training are
often of even greater importance if events take an
unexpected turn.
The acceptance of safety issues by people at work,
and therefore their contribution to them, depends on the
importance placed on safety by the organisation and all
of the people within it.
A number of factors affect and impact upon human
behaviour in the workplace. The most important of these
factors relate to the organisation in which the individual
works, the job being done and the person undertaking
the work.
The relationship between the individual, the job they
perform and the organisation in which they work is both
complex and interrelated. An effective safety culture is
one that recognises and manages these interdependent
spheres of infl uence and manages the interfaces
between work and:
➤ The organisational characteristics which have an
infl uence on safety-related behaviour at work
➤ The infl uence of equipment and system design on
human performance
➤ The perceptual, mental and physical abilities of
people and the interaction between them and their
job and working environment.
4.8.1 The organisation
Person
Job
Figure 4.12 The interrelated job, person and organisational
factors that affect the safety culture of an organisation
Where management fails to take positive action on noncompliance
with safety procedures, or worse still actively
promote such breaches, the individuals within the organisation
will perceive that such actions are condoned.
As individuals, our behaviour is infl uenced by the
various organisations, or groups, to which we belong.
Where the infl uences are complementary our behaviour,
good or bad, is encouraged and reinforced. However,
where the infl uences are in confl ict human behaviour will
generally follow the strongest infl uence.
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