Examining behaviours and attitudes
The emphasis on the importance of such a culture has led us to implement a measure a psychological-based technique called Human Factor Analysis (HFA).
HFA is one of several tools that helps them to identify the lessons it must learn from incidents. HFA’s contribution is to examine the human, behavioural and cultural factors that each play a role in an accident. Once these factors have been highlighted, they can be used to inform the creation of appropriate actions and strategies for preventing similar incidents. In this way the company is able to see not just what technical or procedural changes are needed to improve control use but also the behaviours and attitudes required. It is this in combination that helps them improve safety control use and effectiveness.
When using HFA, the first step is to identify the factors that led to or contributed to an accident. There are three different levels involved in this: workplace, organisational and personal. “Workplace” examines the broader context in which the accident occurred in, the task itself and the level of engagement.
“Organisational” focuses on the corporate imperatives, decision-making processes and links with leadership, revealing the role that the organisational culture played. “Personal” provides a clearer picture of what was going on at the time for the people who were directly involved in the accident. At this stage, aspects such as an individual’s health, capability, fitness, and situational awareness, as well as team-related elements such as leadership, cohesion, dynamics, process and diversity are all taken into account.
Once an HFA investigation has been concluded, appropriate recommendations and changes can be made to ensure the right risk management processes and controls are in place. These also inform the broader safety strategy and procedures of our business – from group level to mine management. Such measures are helping companies in the mining industry to move forward towards realising their vision of ‘zero harm’.
