All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good people to say nothing—human factors in effective safety-conversation interventions

Abstract

Intervening when we see others working unsafely is fundamental to achieving zero harm. Much research and anecdotal evidence indicates the positive impact that organisations experience when frequent and effective safety conversation interventions are the norm. Unfortunately, research across a number of industries and cultures indicates that all too frequently unsafe behaviours are not being addressed; further, when they are, the intervention is often ineffective in producing behavioural changes (Ragain et al, 2011). Many workers indicate that fear of an angry, defensive response or that their attempts will not make a difference stop them from intervening when observing unsafe behaviours in the workplace (Ragain et al, 2011). This extended abstract explores the human factors that play a role in effective safety conversation interventions. Specifically, it discusses the impact of team psychological safety, the role of in-group versus out-group assessment, attribution error and self-efficacy on the likelihood that the worker will intervene or not, and the effectiveness of any safety conversation intervention. Also explored are the human factors issues behind the use of skills or strategy that are positively associated with effective safety conversation interventions such as pre-framing, questioning techniques, focus on consequences, rapport building and active listening.