Reducing accidents and promoting safety behaviours

Reducing accidents – Token Economy 

Token Economy is behaviour modification technique that uses rewards to improve and increase the chances of a person learning and performing a desired behaviour. This is based on the CLASSIC CONDITIONING  belief that positive reinforcement will led to the behaviour being replaced.

FOX ET AL (1987) conducted research with open-cast miners, who would receive points for:

• Wasting no time for injuries
• Being in groups where no time was lost for injury
• Not being involved in equipment damaging accidents
• Making safety suggestions
• Behaviour that prevented injury/accident.

Similarly, they lost points for the opposite behaviour.

• Large decreases in accidents ,days taken off for injury and costs.

Strengths:

• Haynes,Pine and Finch (1982) found a 25% decrease in the number of accidents by bus drivers after conducting a token economy on the business.
• Ecological validity – the study was carried out in a real working environment with real workers, which makes the research more realistic and reliable.

Weaknesses:

• Gender bias – the study was only conducted with men; therefore, it can be said that the results cannot be generalised and applied to women because there may be differences.
• No real world application – token economy may not be sustainable in every business and a s a treatment for illnesses like anorexia because it can be expensive.
• No follow-ups – It is difficult to define whether the results are due to the prizes given out rather than learning a new behaviour, mainly because no further study was conducted.

Reorganizing shift work 

A slow rotation of shifts is preferable and more effective because the workers’ circadian rhythms are able to adapt to their working hours. 

• If the sleep cycle is not able to adapt, there may be long-term health implications. Also, at night our cognitive functioning decreases, which makes us more prone to accidents or making errors. 

Czeisler et al (1982) conducted research with shift workers at a Utah chemical plant, that reported high levels of stress, difficulty in sleeping and health problems in their workers which affected productivity. They were on a backward shift rotation, which shortened their 24-hour cycle.

• The researchers introduced a forward shift rotation (morning, afternoons, nights) and workers were placed on the same shift for 21 days.
• After 9 months, workers reported less stress and more productivity.

Safety promotion campaigns

COWPE ET AL (1989) found that advertising is effective, however behaviour change is seen most during a campaign and then reduces. Also, viewers are less likely to be influenced by a campaign if there are overexposed to it.

For more detailed information – Cowpe et al (1989)