According tothe Theory of Human Factors (Heinrich, 1931) it suggests that the interactionof individuals with the work environment, equipment and other contributingfactors leads to adverse effects on work systems, which in turn trigger asequence of events ending in an accident.
This model encourages firms to investin safety training to develop worker skills and safety consciousness. Asignificant weakness, however, is that it attributes all system faults to humanerror. This theory relates to the overload, inappropriate response, and inappropriateactivitiesworkingperformance of forecourt service champions. Where their work tasks are beyondthe capability of the worker. The premise here is that human errors causeaccidents.
These errors are categorized broadly as overload which means thework task is beyond the capability of the worker which includes physical andpsychological factors and the influence of environmental factors, internalfactors, and situational factors.Overload amounts to an imbalance between a person’scapacity at any given time and the load that person is carrying in a givenstate. A person’s capacity is the product of such factors as his or her naturalability, training, state of mind, fatigue, stress, and physical condition. Theload that a person is carrying consists of tasks for which he or she isresponsible and added burdens resulting from environmental factors (noise,distractions, and so on), internal factors (personal problems, emotionalstress, and worry), and situational factors (level of risk, unclearinstructions, and so on). The state in which a person is acting is the productof his or her motivational and arousal levels.
Inappropriate Response and Incompatibility said that aperson responds in a given situation can cause or prevent an accident. If anemployee detects a hazardous condition but does nothing to correct it, he orshe has responded inappropriately. If a person removes a safeguard from amachine in an effort to increase output, he or she has respondedinappropriately. If an employee disregards an established safety procedure, heor she has responded inappropriately. Such responses can lead to accidents. Inaddition to inappropriate responses, this component includes workstationincompatibility. The incompatibility of an employee’s workstation with regardto size, force, reach, feel, and similar factors can lead to accidents andinjuries.
Human error can be the result of inappropriateactivities. An example of an inappropriate activity is a person who undertakesa task that he or she doesn’t know how to do. Another example is a person whomisjudges the degree of risk involved in a given task and proceeds based onthat misjudgment. Such inappropriate activities can lead to accidents andinjuries.TheAccident/Incident Theory by Dan Petersen is an extension of the human factorstheory. Petersen introduced such new elements as ergonomic traps, the decisionto err, and systems failures, while retaining much of the human factors theory.
In this model, overload, ergonomic traps, or a decision to err lead to humanerror. The decision may be conscious and based on logic, or it may beunconscious. A variety of pressures such as deadlines, peer pressure, andbudget factors can lead to unsafe behavior. Another factor that can influencesuch a decision is the “It won’t happen to me” syndrome. The systems failurecomponent is an important contribution of Petersen’s theory. First, it showsthe potential for a causal relationship between management decisions ormanagement behavior and safety.
Second, it establishes management’s role in accidentprevention as well as the broader concepts of safety and health in theworkplace. Following are just some of the different ways that systems can fail,according to Petersen’s theory: 1. Management does not establish a comprehensive safety policy. 2. Responsibility and authority with regard to safety are not clearlydefined. 3.
Safety procedures such as measurement, inspection, correction, andinvestigation are ignored or given insufficient attention. 4. Employees do not receive proper orientation. 5. Employees are not given sufficient safety trainingAccording to the Erg Theory the fact thatClayton Alderfer (1972) stresses on the issue of existence as the priority,it’s to show the significant importance of safety in every organization. Anemployee needs to be alive and safe so as to execute their daily activities ina very comfortable zone.
When employees are safe, they feel intrinsicallymotivated and creative thus facilitate the achievement of organizations goalsas well as individual goals. The relevant of Alderfer (1972) ERG Theory to thepresent work is that organizations need to design the working environment to befree from hazards so as to keep their employees safe and alive in other forthem to be able to attain the goals of the organization as well as their goals.Workers perform well when they are safe and satisfied.
The physical environmentmust be free from hazards. Working conditions also have to be favorable so asto boost employee’s morale. Accident models affect the way people think about safety,how they identify and analyze risk factors and how they measure performance.They can be used in both reactive and proactive safety management and manymodels are based on an idea of causality. Accidents are thus the result oftechnical failures, human errors or organizational problems. (Hovden, Albrechtsen and Herrera, 2010).
Accident is an unplanned or uncontrolled event in whichaction or reaction of an object, material, or person results in either personalinjury or property damage, or both. (Newstrom and Bittel 2002).Injuries, asdistinguished from disease, are equally susceptible to this approach, meaningthat our understanding of accidents would benefit by recognizing that accidentsare caused by a combination of forces from at least three sources, which arethe host – and man is the host of principal interest – the agent itself, andthe environment in which host and agent find themselves. (Gordon 1949).
