By Ime Alfred Akpan; MEng (UAB), BSc. (Greenwich)
This is a very interesting topic and looking at what psychology is and relating it to occupational health and safety makes it more interesting and worth knowing. Psychology is the logical study of mind and behavior. From the definition of psychology, two important words which can be related to occupational health and safety can be pointed out – mind and behavior. These two words cannot be overemphasized when we are talking of wellbeing of a worker or talking about controlling workplace hazards.
When a workplace is said to be psychologically healthy and safe, it means that the workplace supports workers' psychological wellbeing and vigorously works to manage/eliminate harm to employee psychological health, plus negligent, reckless or deliberate acts. A careful look at the meaning of workplace safety psychology reveals the need for the implementation of health and safety management system. Companies are therefore advised to develop and implement a comprehensive health and safety management system.
Though hard to control, about 80-95% of all accidents are caused by unsafe behaviours. To control and reduce this level of accident, safety training and employees involvement/participation are recommended. When employees are involved in designing a particular task, they will take ownership of that task and are motivated to put up their best.
Employees involvement in the design will enable them to identify the hazards involved in executing the job and recommend mitigating measures, this would probably lead to a reduction in error and incident/accident.
There are six methods to improve employee involvement and they include:
For detail study of workplace safety psychology, enrol in our Bachelor, Master or Doctoral degree program in Health, Safety and Environment. Visit Donnish Hub Coeducation at https://donnishcoeducation.site123.me or our office at Eneka Road, opposite Smart Avenue, Port Harcourt. You can also call +234-803-478-3533.
