Role of beliefs in accident and risk analysis and prevention

Abstract

This paper mainly deals with an old psychological theme, i.e., the impact of comprehensive reference systems such as belief systems and culture on safety and accident prevention. It is hypothesized that an understanding of the beliefs people hold about risks and the causes of accidents, as well as their perceptions of risk targets and the need for safety, are important prerequisites for effectively managing risk and designing preventive measures. This viewpoint is posited to be highly crucial today, especially in this era of globalization where workers from different backgrounds are relocating, and increasingly complex technology is being exported. Illustrations are given for both developing and developed countries. Different factors are shown to cause bias in accident explanation and risk perception. Among these, people’s beliefs about their own ability to cope and also their culture are described as important factors. Both defensive explanations of accidents and illusory or biased risk perception are shown to influence safety assessments and to have important implications for defining the best preventive actions and for writing relevant preventive communications.

Introduction

Much progress has undeniably been made in improving the reliability and safety of modern production systems. However, these systems still involve considerable risk and accidents, sometimes with major consequences that are tolerated less and less well. Technical and organizational solutions have been tried in some cases, with varying degrees of success (Kouabenan et al., 2003). It has been noted on numerous occasions that the interplay between people’s behaviors and mental representations often play a major role in accidents and dangerous situations (Kouabenan, 1999). Preventive measures are not always respected, operators do not always wear available protective gear, supervisors and directors often show little concern for accident prevention, focusing instead on meeting production objectives, and so on. In summary, few people seem to be truly concerned with prevention, even though risks are far from being under control. Our hypothesis is that such indifference about accident prevention, and the relative ineffectiveness of preventive measures, results from different “readings” of the same situation and from poor quality communication about risk and methods of overcoming it. This situation is caused by differing and sometimes biased representations of risks and accidents. We believe that by analyzing the sociocognitive functioning of the different actors at the workplace, and thus their representations and beliefs, we can enrich accident analysis and increase involvement in and commitment to safety and safety measures. We analyzed two complementary types of data, spontaneous explanations of accidents provided by operators, and their perception of risks inherent in the organization.

This paper particularly deals with an old psychological theme, i.e., the impact of comprehensive reference systems such as belief systems and culture on safety and accident prevention. Such approach is especially relevant in the current era, characterized by the globalization of trade, the transfer of production technologies and systems, and the internationalization of labour. Today we see not only “travelling factories”, but also many workers relocating to foreign countries. In this climate, culture and even more so beliefs, take on particular importance for safety. Each production system carries with it a system of values and standards specific to its developers’ country of origin and to certain ideas about work. Likewise, each worker had his or her own set of beliefs, representations, norms, and culture. These representations, and more specifically risk perception and spontaneous (or naive) explanations of accidents, influence all levels of risk management. They affect political or strategic choices, and economic and cultural choices as to what types and levels of risk are acceptable, unavoidable, or useful; they have an impact on measures taken to counter potentially harmful effects, and on whether safety procedures are accepted and followed; they influence how individuals evaluate their personal exposure to risk, their decision as to whether or not to protect themselves, and their receptivity to prevention messages. By gaining insight into the representations, beliefs, and naive causal explanations not only of operators, but also of decision-makers, investors, directors, various other stakeholders involved in an organization, and all those engaged in risky activities, we can understand their attitudes with respect to safety problems and thus the behavioral choices they make.

The present paper seeks to describe the role of beliefs in handling and defining safety measures as well as in designing and developing prevention programs. First, the relationship between beliefs and safety is illustrated (1st part); then, we present the influence of beliefs on accident explanation (2nd part) and on risk perception (3rd part). In the fourth part, we show how culture is an important factor in risk perception and the explanations of accidents. Finally, we underline the relationship between beliefs, safety diagnosis and preventive measures (5th part).