Safety+Health: Ensuring workers wear the appropriate personal protective equipment for the task at hand is essential to keeping them safe – but it’s not always easy. The solution might just lie in nudge theory, an approach that makes the right choice feel like the easiest one.
4 comments:
As someone who is not necessarily the best at using PPE, my own health often seems to be a problem for future me while current me doesn't feel like going to find a pair of safety glasses, so I like this idea of trying to build it into a routine rather than try and make it a mandate. Making things mandated awakens some ‘don't tell me what to do’ instinct buried deep within me, and despite the fact that I know I should be wearing a mask and not inhaling fumes from a logical standpoint, the very fact that someone is telling me what to do makes me not want to do it. That being said, the safety star of the month board is possibly the worst idea I have ever heard. I think that If anyone at any point called me the safety star of the week, I would pledge never to be seen wearing safety glasses ever again. But other than that, this method seems like an interesting modern approach to try and get annoying idiots such as myself to actually put some effort into not slowly killing themselves.
I was interested to see the tips they would provide. I've been in environments where PPE is suggested but rarely used, and I've been in some where everyone uses it so I chose to as well. As they said, it's partially just a social pressure thing. Being in an environment where everyone else is wearing PPE makes it feel like a natural step to take. Additionally, another tip they provided was making PPE easily accessible. If it is something that takes extra time to find or dig out what you need, nobody is going to want to do it. It's an inconvenience that takes up your working time. But if the necessary equipment is right by the entrance or by the common tools that are used, it's an easy thing for someone to just grab what they need as they're going. Also in general, the nudge theory rather than forcing behavior is definitely more effective and creates a more positive environment.
This kind of approach is highly attractive to me coming from a different academic background knowing about the effectiveness of nudge theory in other aspects of our life (i.e. UI development) and is interesting in the context of PPE compliance. Considering our particular application to theater, often our shops are confined and constrained in ways that limit our ability to implement these kinds of nudges as the space itself is restricted and often our budgets are too that would allow us to properly develop these materials (budget here as it relates to further material to accomplish these ideas, not for purchase of PPE itself). If taken up, these kinds of approaches would require further creativity in how we bring these ideas to the forefront of our employees’ minds as to avoid wasting further time on protocols and further information that won’t actually be used. Ultimately, whatever will not be glanced over and presents itself easiest to those we work with will prove most effective, especially when considering how much our crews can rotate at times in our production process.
This feels like very toned down manipulation to get people to wear their PPE but honestly if it works it works. I hate to say that this would definitely work on me, I already put sticky notes on my desk in my room to remind myself to take my medication so a little fun bright sign would absolutely remind me to wear my gloves. Similarly if something is made easy for me I am also much more likely to do it, so their second suggestion of nudging would also most definitely work on me. I think another part of it is the culture already established in the workplace. If no one else is wearing the PPE it can feel pretty weird to be the only one actually wearing it, let alone if you aren’t already teased by coworkers on the fact that they deem it unnecessary while you wear it.
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