Elsevier

Knowledge-Based Systems

Volume 23, Issue 8, December 2010, Pages 769-771
Knowledge-Based Systems

Industrial safety perception among post-graduate engineering students

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2010.04.013Get rights and content

Abstract

This paper describes industrial safe perception among University of Aberdeen post-graduate engineering student. The immediate objective of this research is to identify safety perceptions of different high risk occupational industries. Results obtained were analyzed and compared with Health and Safety Executives (HSE) reports as well as the Oil and Gas Producer Safety Performance Report. The result showed that the participants perceive the Oil and Gas Industry is safe, second only to the Aviation Industry and that the Oil and Gas Industry is safest in the European Region. The research also concluded that participants’ perceptions were more influenced towards the concept of accident severity/dread rather than the concept of accident probability.

Introduction

The general definition of risk is the possibility of suffering harm or loss. The definition of risk used by many researchers is the probability of loss, given the amount of exposure to risk situations or hazards [1], [2]. Two main components of risk are the probability and the severity of a consequence. It is important to understand the differences of the two elements. Individuals usually only consider the severity aspect in risk, thus ignoring the likelihood of event occurring, as individuals tend to not understand probability [3]. For example, more individuals are afraid of flying on an airplane rather than driving a car, even though statistics suggest that car drivers are more likely to be involved in a fatal accident as compared to airline passengers. People are more focused on severity of airline accident, ignoring the higher rate of car accident probability [4].

A high risk industry can be interpreted as a working environment that may contain a high probability or severity of an accident occurrence or both. Referring to the Health and Safety Executives (HSE) statistical report, the Construction Industry as well as the Oil and Gas Industry are considered high risk [5]. This is because of the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents associated with these industries are high. The mining industry, the aviation, the space industry, the chemical industry as well as the military industry are example of high risk industry due to statistically high accident probability and severity [6].

Occupational risk and safety are terms that are correlated. It is important to manage occupational risk as this reflects the safety levels for employers and employees. In a survey conducted by the National Council of Examiners in Engineering and Surveying (formerly known as National Council of Engineering Examiners), it was concluded that nearly all disciplines of engineering as well as all kinds of engineering job industry had significant amount of health and safety responsibilities [7]. Therefore, it is in the engineer’s responsibility to protect both the occupational and the public health and safety. Engineers must bear the important role of managing risk ensuring risks are kept to a minimum or acceptable level [8].

Engineers must also recognize other professions role in managing risk, and work with them on safety issues. Identifying hazards and managing risk often requires inter-disciplinary efforts to develop effective solutions to safety problems. No one person can be an expert in every aspect of managing risk. To be an expert in ‘every’ aspect of managing risk, one would require to be an expert in engineering, law, psychology, management, industrial process and many more. Thus, it is impossible for one person or one profession to be an expert in managing risk on its own [9], [10].

There is a support for a stronger community participation in dealing with health and safety issue. Such support must come from participations of students and professional in health and safety research areas. It is important to understand the perceptions that are associated with industries. Understanding safety perceptions of various industries could pave for better ways to manage the exploitation of industrial perceptions, such as the Nuclear Industry and the Oil and Gas Industry, in a community. Managing industrial perceptions in a community could be beneficial in creating future occupational opportunities. This research approaches such issue by gathering safety perceptions among engineering students, through the use of questionnaire.

Section snippets

Methodology

A questionnaire was developed in reference to HSE reports and international safety performance report. The questionnaire was adapted from various sources, and was designed to accommodate assessment on safety perception with respect to elements such as geographical regions, types and probability of accidents [11], [12]. The aim of the questionnaire was to analyze safety perceptions of industries among post-graduate engineering students.

The questionnaire was subjected to formal testing in

Results

A total of 73 students participated in this research, with average age of 28.6 years old. Over 88% of the participants were male. The overall response rate was 89.7%. A one sample t-test was used to analyze the data gathered. At 95% confidence interval, the participants rated the Aviation Industry (m = 1.00, SD = 2.78, p < 0.01) and the Oil and Gas Industry (m = 1.31, SD = 2.43, p < 0.01) as safe industries to work while the Mining Industry (m = 0.85, SD = 2.24, p < 0.01) and the Nuclear Industry (m = 1.00, SD = 

Discussion

The objective of this research is to identify safety perception of various industries. The significance of this research was the participant’s perception towards the Oil and Gas Industry. It was rated highly safe, second only to the Aviation Industry.

The participant’s perceptions about unsafe industries must also be highlighted. The Nuclear Industry and the Mining Industry were rated as having one of the worst safety perceptions. This research postulates a theory that participants relate

Conclusion

As a conclusion, the research concludes that the Oil and Gas Industry have better safety perceptions than other high risk industry. This lead the research to postulate a theory that high risk industry are susceptible to the perception of incident severity rather than incident probability. The research also suggests that the perceptions of incident severity is directly be related to the nature of the industry.

Limitations and future work

This research did not specify the factors which were considered by participants in answering the questionnaire. There could be various reasons behind their answers. Work is being carried out to better improve this situation. In the future, it is hoped that the questionnaire will be able to identify factors which influence participant’s safety perceptions of industries.

The questionnaire was administered to the post-graduate engineering students at University of Aberdeen. The data collected in

Recommendations

Based on the results obtained and analyzed, it is recommended that more efforts must be made to increase awareness and understanding of occupational accidents and their character in probabilities. It must be noted that many procedures and guidelines in high risk occupational environment were based on the rules and regulations from the Nuclear Industry. More work is needed to make awareness and improve people’s safety perceptions towards the Nuclear Industry.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Dr. Colin D. Gray and Mr. Mehdi Seddighi of University of Aberdeen, who provided guidance and advices on data analysis and SPSS. This paper was greatly improved by their insights and comments on an earlier draft.

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