The Safety - Productivity Balance and its Association with Human Factors and Safety Awareness and Communication

Description

The presentation communicated the findings of a published research which assessed the degree of balance between safety and productivity, and its relationship with awareness and communication of human factors and safety rules. The study was carried out at two aircraft manufacturing facilities where a questionnaire was administered to a representative sample. The instrument included topics relevant to the safety and human factors training provided to the target workforce. The results showed that workers were sufficiently aware of how human factors and safety rules influenced their performance and acknowledged that supervisors had adequately communicated such topics. Safety and productivity seemed equally balanced across the sample. A preference for the former over the latter was associated with a higher awareness about human factors and safety rules, but not linked with safety communication. The findings also suggested that although human factors training had been provided and sufficient bi-directional communication was present across the sample, quality and complexity factors might have influenced the effects of those safety-related practices on the safety-productivity balance for specific parts of the population studied. Therefore, customization of safety training and communication to specific characteristics of employees may be necessary to achieve the desired outcomes.

Period	8 Oct 2018
Event title	Annual Meeting of the Human Factors & Ergonomics Society Europe Chpater
Event type	Conference
Location	Berlin, Germany, Berlin
Degree of Recognition	International