Can We Diagnose Safety?

Abstract

Safety is an essential feature of man-environment systems - especially in industrial settings, but also in private households, schools. It implies more than the non-occurrence of accidents. The concept “safety” encompasses technical, organizational, and behavioral components. In this paper possible ways of diagnosing the development and status of these components will be discussed. This approach to the assessment of safety is analogous to approaches in which other characteristics of men-environment systems are assessed, e.g. a profile of demands on workers or of the level of occupational stress. - Experience has shown that such characteristics can be successfully assessed by means of job analysis procedures. The development of an instrument which will facilitate the assessment of components of safety will be described. Principles and activities engaged in the course of this development as well as results from attained through application of the instrument will be discussed.