NEBOSH

Diploma Part 1

Unit 1A2
Human factors

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 Human factors

‘It is only by having an understanding of

human responses and attitudes that
management can develop a truly holistic
approach to health and safety at work’

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Personal factors
• Personality
• Attitude
• Aptitude
• Perception
• Motivation
• Physical capability
• Mental capability
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 Personality
The way we are perceived by others:
• Honest
• Sincere
• Friendly
• Humorous
• Introvert

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 Technical definition

The dynamic organisation within

the individual of the psychophysical
systems that determine characteristic
behaviour and thought

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 Personality
• Important to choose people with the
right personality for specific jobs
• Introverts no good as salesmen
• Easy going people not suitable for high
risk activities

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 Personality
• Developed during early years
• Difficult to modify in adults
• Changes in the brain change
personality
• Changes can be affected following
accidents, by surgery or use of drugs

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 Attitudes
• Built in responses to particular
situations
• Can be influenced by group opinions or
norms
• Predispositions rather than considered
reflections
• Having wrong attitude can affect health
and safety
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 Typical poor attitudes
• Accidents can’t happen here
• You can’t go through life without taking
risks
• Sometimes you have to bend the rules
• Nobody else does it according to the
rules

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 Typical poor attitudes

• Don’t tell me what to do – I’ve been

doing this job for years
• I can’t see the sense in it myself
• If I worried about health and safety all
the time, I’d never get the job done

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 Attitude
Affected by a number of factors including:

• Self image
• Group norms
• Upbringing
• Cognitive dissonance

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 Self image

• How we see ourselves

• Inbuilt resistance to change

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 Group norms
• Rules and standards that define group
behaviour
• Membership of the group requires the
individual to conform
• May be inappropriate for health and
safety
• Group must be considered when trying
to change attitudes

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 Upbringing
Attitudes can be affected by factors such
as:
• Cultural background
• Interaction in the family
• Socio-economic group
• Level of interaction with other family
groups
• Encouragement to make friends

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 Upbringing

• Education

• Training

• Geographical location

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 Changing attitudes
• Take into account previous factors
• Try and find out what makes the person
‘tick’
• Consider group norms
• Aim for long term changes

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 Aptitude
• Quickness in learning or understanding

• Variation in individual capability and

aptitude is a key factor

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 Capability
• Aptitude • Intelligence
• Skills • Ability to process
• Competencies information
• Short/long term • Physical capabilities
memory

Different combinations of capabilities

are required for different jobs

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 MHSWR 1999

Regulation 11(1) requires employers to

take into account the capabilities of
employees when entrusting tasks to
them

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 Intelligence
• The capacity to acquire and apply
knowledge
• Indication of mental ability
• Lack of intelligence not necessarily a
barrier to safe working depending on
the job

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 Training
• Not all training is good training

• Not all training works

• Imposed training without consultation

rarely works

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 Human perception
• People perceive situations both through
their senses and through mental
processes

• Perception can be influenced by a

variety of behavioural factors such as
attitude

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 Ornstein 1975
We do not perceive objective reality, but
rather our construction of reality. Our sense
organs gather information which the mind
modifies and sorts. This ‘heavily filtered’ input
is compared with memories, expectations,
needs, social conditioning, group control, until
finally our conscious perception is
‘constructed’ and we have a ‘best guess’ at
reality

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 Hale and Hale
Presented
Information
Perceived Possible
Information Actions
Expected
Information

Cost / Benefit
Action
Decision

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 Perception

People receiving the same sensory

information are likely to perceive the
reality differently leading to a wrong
course of action

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Causes of misperception
• Poor eyesight or hearing
• Stress/tiredness
• Lack of motivation
• Misunderstanding
• Poor working conditions
• Lack of training
• Lack of experience
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 Perceptual sensitisation

• Certain people react more to one

sensory stimulus rather than another
• Musicians react to sound
• Can fail to react to lesser stimuli

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Which sensory stimuli do you tend to
favour?

Were there any situations when you

ignored certain stimuli?

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 Perceptual defence
• Failing to accept certain stimuli which
are not what the person wants to
receive

• Ignoring unusual noises from a machine

when on piece work

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 Perceptual illusions
• Perceiving something to be physically
different from what it actually is
• Perception of distance can be affected
by light
• Flickering light giving a false impression
of motion
• Machinery appearing to be stationary
with a stroboscopic light

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 Sensory differences
• Individuals have different levels of
sensory perception
• Can change with time e.g. as eyesight
deteriorates hearing can become more
acute
• Task analysis must include need for
certain levels of sensory perception

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 Hearing and sight
• Many people do not realise that their
hearing is impaired

• Sight impairment can include short/long

sight, colour blindness, tunnel vision
etc.

• Beware of discrimination
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 Finally
• People will tend not to see what they do
not want to see
• People will often ignore things which
they do not expect to be present
• People do not always react to what is
there but react to what they expect to be
there

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Rate the following on a scale of 1 – 10,
1 being the most risky

• Mountaineering • Dogs
• Mining • Bungy jumping
• Commercial car • Motorcycling
driving • Jogging
• Smoking • Construction work
• Sky diving

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 Organisational factors

• Good health and safety management is

beneficial to the organisation

• Legal requirements under MHSWR

1999

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 MHSWR 1999

Employers must make arrangements for

effective planning, organisation, control,
monitoring and review of ‘preventative
and protective’ measures taken in the
interests of heath and safety

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 Du Pont
1. All occupational injuries and illnesses can be
prevented
2. All levels of management are directly
responsible and accountable for health and
safety
3. Safety is a condition of employment and as
important as company requirements in the
areas of quality, production, marketing and
cost control

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 Du Pont
4. Training, procedures and safety
performance standards play an
essential part in every job.
5. Safety inspections and audits must be
carried out.
6. Deficiencies in health and safety
management must be corrected
promptly

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 Du Pont
7. Unsafe practices, incidents and accidents
involving injuries will be investigated
8. Safety away from work is as important as
safety at work
9. Accident prevention is cost effective; the
highest cost is human suffering
10. People are the most critical element in the
health & safety programme & must be
actively involved

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How does your organisation measure
up against the Du Pont principles?

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 Good organisational
characteristics
• Commitment from the top
• Demonstration by senior management
• Clear H&S responsibilities for all line
managers
• Clear H&S policies and systems
• A positive H&S culture – working safely
and reporting concerns
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Provision of training
• Information
• Instruction
• Training
• Supervision

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 Positive Culture
• Mentioned in newsletters
• Separate budget
• Linked to quality/performance standards
• Continuously monitored
• Actively promoted
• Linked to appraisal systems
• Subject of regular consultation

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 Co-operation
• HASAWA Section 7

• Other Regulations

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 Consultation
• HASAWA
• Safety Representatives and Safety
Committees Regulations 1977
• Health & Safety (Consultation with
Employees Regulations) 1996
(See Unit 1B5)
• Cooperation/consultation – linked
processes
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 Lack of commitment
• No management interest in H&S
• Failure to provide resources
• Precedence to operational activities
• Breaking H&S rules and procedures
• Lack of supervision
• Lack of training
• Lack of supervision
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Lack of commitment leads to:
• Unsafe acts
• Unsafe conditions
• Incidents
• Accidents
• Ill health
• Inefficiency

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 Group synergy
• Powerful agent for good
• Strong positive influences
• Can be reverse
• Peer pressure leading to bad working
practices
• Careful introduction of new group
members
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Read the case study on page 23 and
answer the following questions:

1. If Bill asked for your advice what

would you say to him?

2. What action would you take as

Bill’s manager to resolve the
problems and why?

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 Motivation theory
Individuals are motivated towards safer
working practices if they are:

• Happy in their work

• Adequately regarded
• Recognised for what they achieve

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 Self - actualisation
Achieving one’s true potential
 
 
Ego needs
The need for recognition
Honour & glory
 
 
Social needs
The need to be one of the group, to be accepted
 
 
Safety & security needs
Freedom from deprivation and want
 
 
  Basic or physiological needs
The need for food, shelter, drink, air, rest, sex
 
 
 
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
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 Maslow
• Progression from basic needs to higher
level of needs
• Basic needs to be met first
• Motivation can change over time

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 Hertzberg’s Two Factor
Theory
• Factors which determine the presence
or absence of job satisfaction
• ‘Hygiene’ and ‘motivation’ factors
• Hygiene factors must be addressed first
otherwise job dissatisfaction occurs
• Motivation factors lead to satisfaction
but, if absent, not necessarily
dissatisfaction
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 Hertzberg’s Two Factor
Theory
Hygiene factors
• Status • Supervision
• Security • Administration
• Money • Safety
• Working conditions arrangements
• Good interpersonal
relationships

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 Hertzberg
Motivating factors
• Responsibility
• Challenge
• Opportunity for promotion
• Recognition
• Job interest
• Stimulating environment
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 McGregor Theory‘X’
• The average human being has an inherent
dislike of work and will avoid it if possible
• Most people must be coerced, controlled,
directed and threatened with punishment
• The average human being must be directed,
avoids responsibility, has little ambition &
wants security above all. Management plan,
organise, motivate & control.

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 McGregor Theory‘Y’
• The expenditure of physical effort in work is
as natural as play or rest
• The average human being learns to accept
and seek responsibility
• The occupational potential of the average
human being is only partially realised
• Self-direction and self-control will be
exercised if the person is committed to the
objectives

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 Motivating staff
• Be aware of individuals needs - Maslow
• Make the job interesting, challenging
and demanding
• Lay down clear standards
• Identify changing motivators
• Analyse strengths and weaknesses and
give opportunities to use strengths
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 Motivating staff

• Give recognition for good performance

• Involve people in decisions which
affect them both directly and indirectly
• Share information

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 Ergonomics

The study of the relationship

between people and their
environment which includes work
systems, machinery and equipment
(See Unit 1E1)

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 Main features
• Work design for tools, machines,
workplaces and workstations

• Organisational arrangements e.g.

matching individual skills to jobs, job
rotation

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 Bygghalsan
• Neck and shoulder pain study
• Workers spending at least 10 hours per
week with arms above head
• Problems increasing with age
• 10 second breaks introduced each time
arms raised above shoulder height
• Reduced problem and reduced job time
by 12%
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 Ergonomic factors
• Physical and mental capabilities
• Strength and body dimensions
• Environment e.g. temperature,
lighting
• Machine and tool design
• Machine layout

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 Physical capability
• Anthropometry – study of physical
characteristics of the body
• Aims to make the interface between
person and machine more compatible
• Average workstation unsuitable for
shortest 5% and tallest 5%
• Special workstations required for these

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 Biomechanics
A study of the forces involved in
movement and the effects on the body

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What problems have you
encountered with ergonomic design
and how have you overcome these?

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Mental capability
• Experience
• Training
• Education
• Language skills
• Reading/writing skills
• Attitude

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