To control industrial risks, companies have developed measures based on the reliability of their installations and their management systems (e.g. procedures). Progress has certainly been made, but safety results seem now to have reached a plateau and are unlikely to improve further without better consideration of human and organisational factors (HOFS).
Change, which does not always go smoothly, requires new skills from human and social sciences, combined with the know-how to link them with practical, operational issues.
This Cahier de la sécurité industrielle offers a veritable state-of-the-art overview of the HOFS approach, summarising our knowledge of the human brain and reasoning, behaviour, and work groups, manufacturing safety, and more. It helps us understand the factors that affect human activity and modify workplace design and organisation, to achieve the conditions required to work safely.
Objectives
To develop a common, proven knowledge base concerning the role of people and organisations in risk management.
About the authors
François Daniellou is Professor of Ergonomics at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Cognitique (National Higher Institute of Cognitive Science) at the Institut Polytechnique de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Polytechnic Institute). His research focuses specifically on human factors in industries with high-risk activities; Marcel Simard, tenured Professor at the University of Montreal, is a specialist in the "Safety Culture " approach. Ivan Boissières, PhD in the Sociology of organisations is the Director General of the Institute for a Culture of Industrial safety.