Organisation, workload and pace
Targets, schedules, staffing, task allocation and trade-offs between production and safety can affect the conditions in which work is performed.
Home / Behavioural safety
HR & QHSE PerformanceBehavioural safety and human factors
Understand work as performed and work with teams on the human, organisational and technical factors that influence safety.
The challenge
An event cannot be explained by individual behaviour alone
Decisions made in the field depend on a combination of conditions: organisation, workload, equipment design, environment, available resources, coordination, experience and alertness.
Our support seeks to understand these interactions without blaming individuals. It involves workers in the analysis and connects observed practices with technical and organisational choices.
Analysis framework
Four families of factors to examine together
These families are non-exhaustive reference points: the assessment remains tailored to each organisation’s activities, risks and context.
Environment, equipment and design
Ergonomics, accessibility, equipment condition, maintenance, noise and lighting influence the room people have to operate safely.
Alertness, fatigue and pressure
Fatigue, interruptions, perceived urgency and pressure can reduce attention and the ability to detect or respond to weak signals.
Communication, coordination and supervision
The quality of handovers, briefings, mutual support, instructions and supervision shapes a shared understanding of the situation.
Our approach
A four-step participatory approach
The approach combines analysis of work as performed, dialogue and testing of practices suited to field realities.
01 Frame the approach
Clarify activities, risks, stakeholders, available data and objectives with management, supervisors and the workers concerned.
02 Understand work as performed
Combine observations, interviews and feedback to examine schedules, staffing, equipment, maintenance, procedures and production-safety trade-offs.
03 Build practices with teams
Co-design non-punitive practices: pre-task briefings, safety dialogue, structured observation, reporting of situations and learning reviews.
04 Test, monitor and adjust
Test actions, monitor useful indicators without individual surveillance, and adjust organisation, resources and practices with teams.
Expected benefits
Conditions that better support prevention
A more shared understanding of work situations and their constraints
More open safety discussions with a stronger focus on learning
Weak signals reported and analysed more effectively as a group
Prevention actions more closely connected to real work and field priorities
Results depend on context, stakeholder involvement and effective implementation of the selected actions: no level of performance or accident reduction can be guaranteed.
Let’s build an approach suited to your organisation
Tell us about your activities, risks and priorities so we can define support that is useful in the field.