Introduction to Fire Safety Management

Introduction to Fire Safety Management
4.9.2 Violations
In contrast to human errors that are made unconsciously
there are many occasions when humans will deliberately
breach safety rules. On some occasions the breach will
be of a rule that is not physically possible to follow or
may just be inconvenient, for instance the removal of
machinery guards to speed production and achieve
enhanced productivity payments. On other occasions
the deliberate breaching of safety rules will be as a result
of personal antipathy for the work or the organisation.
Violations will only occur when the individual
is motivated to ignore them. This decision will be
infl uenced by factors relating to the job, the organisation
or the individual. In general deliberate breaches of safety
rules occur in three distinct circumstances; routine,
situational and exceptional.
➤ Routine – routine violations of safety rules are made
when the job becomes part of day-to-day practice
in a workplace. Examples include when fi re doors
are routinely wedged open with fi re extinguishers or
when PPE is routinely not worn. It will only continue
if managers fail to challenge the non-compliance
early. The longer a safety rule is routinely breached
the more diffi cult it is for individuals to be persuaded
of the need to comply
➤ Situational – situational violations occur when
the design of the job make it diffi cult to comply
with safety rules. For example, there may be occasions
when an individual will need to access high
level storage but is not provided with convenient
access equipment such as a step ladder. In this situation
access may be gained by standing on chairs
or other offi ce equipment. In an organisation with a
positive health and safety culture the occasions when
there is inadequate provision of work equipment will
be bought to the attention of a commitment management
who would resolve the situation and positively
recognise those individuals who bought the issue to
their attention
➤ Exceptional – exceptional violations rarely occur
in part because they are only made when a new
or unusual task is required to be undertaken or an
emergency is required to be responded to. This type
of violation is more likely to occur in organisations
that have a high tolerance of routine and situational
violations in the place. Typically with exceptional
violations, only achieving the desired outcome of
the task is considered and any other issues are
excluded, such as cost or safety.
Minimising violations
Violations can only be reduced to a minimum by creating
a positive safety culture in the workplace, i.e. a culture
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Figure 4.16 Routine violations of basic safety systems
indicate a poor safety culture – wedged fi re door
that involves and empowers employees to be actively
involved in decisions that affect their own safety.
A culture where the most senior management are
visibly committed to high safety standards and a culture
that encourages standards of safety to be maintained
despite internal problems and external pressures will
also assist in minimising employee violations.
4.10 Effecting cultural change
In order to effect cultural change with an organisation,
it is necessary for the most senior levels of management
to understand the implication of a negative culture.
Experience has shown that organisations with a poor
culture are liable to suffer serious accidents with subsequent
loss of life, business assets and reputation. In addition
they will be liable to lengthy legal action by enforcing
authorities and the families of those who have been killed
or injured.
Without this understanding of the risks that are being
run, if safety is not seen as a central element of managing
a business, managers are not likely to be committed to