Safety Questions
 

Obviously common sense, awareness, and foresight are all good attributes of someone that is a safe worker but these are all difficult to judge, what other aspects are there? Say you were hiring someone and wanted to find out if they'd be a safe employee, what questions (or kinds of questions) would you ask them to find out?

P.S. Does anyone know if there has been an psychological research done on what makes someone safe?

Perhaps you could give them a few safety questions that are in line with their job duties.

A few that come to mind:
"Have you ever witnessed a work injury? How did you respond?"
"How frequently do you get paper cuts?"
"What are the necessary safety precautions one should take when changing filters on the par cans situated a meter away from any catwalk?"
"When working with 5 Molar hydroflouric acid, are safety glasses really necessary?"

Safety isn't one of those touchy subjects that an interviewer needs to dance around. I don't see why you wouldn't be upfront about it.

Safety lapses tend to be the result of cutting corners or laziness. Someone with a track record of thoroughness, consistency, and attention to detail will be more likely to follow established safety procedures.

1) Check their referrences. Ask them about the individual's job safety.
2) Ask if they have ever filed a Workers Compensation claim.
3) Consult with your risk manager for more detailed questions to ask in regards to the specific hazards of your business and the role being filled.

Honestly, without knowing a whole lot more about the industry and the job(s) you're trying to fill, it's impossible to give you any advice that is at all meaningful.

As far as "psychological research", I don't think that you realize that "safe" in most industrial settings (which are really the only ones that matter since white collar workers rarely experience crushing injuries) simply means a lack of accidents. That may because of pro-active actions by employers and employees or sheer dumb luck. More than one employer has removed safety guards to increase productivity.

I don't know that there are any questions you could really ask, that they couldn't just feed you an answer you want to hear. The only true test is the way someone works when nobody is watching them.

One question I would probably ask though, is "what would you do if a part of your PPE was interfering with your ability to perform a task?".

The answer I would be looking for is either suck it up or, preferably, report it to a supervisor in the hope that either the PPE reqs can be modified for that task or the task can be modified so that the PPE is less of an issue.

As posters above have said, what is safe depends on where you work. In my industry, there are two components we check to ensure safety of children in our care--first, that the person has a First Aid/CPR card, and second, that they clear the Criminal Background Check done by the State Police.

Given that my job is more or less like being a lifeguard in a room, a safe person in charge is essential. It can be taught--I've been teaching safety to small children for many years now. It may seem like common sense stuff, but you would be amazed at how many college students I see around town blatantly ignoring basic safety concepts, such as Stop, Look, and Listen. If they don't show awareness in an unsafe situation such as crossing a street because they're too busy texting with earbuds in, will they be aware in a work situation? Hmm.

As mentioned above, safety in the industrial sense is a lack of accidents. Research has consistently shown that people who have the highest rates of accidents tend to be those who:

A) are risk takers (like adventure and dangerous pastimes, are likely to drive faster, or enjoy gambling), or;
B) have relatively short attention spans or an inability to focus on a task through to completion, or;
C) are left-handed, or;
D) are some combination of the above.

Unfortunately, I can't cite any studies directly on this (my industrial psychology days are WAY behind me), but those are the 3 main risk factors I recall being identified with higher rates of work-related accidents.

greywold, to add another one to you list

E) Young people


they tend to be higher risk takers, in a hurry, not focused, brash, etc etc..much more so than workers in their 30's-60's who are more level headed, responsible for a family, have got a mortgage etc. and stand at losing muchmore if they take that risk.

maturity plays a part in this too.

---------- Post added at 03:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 AM ----------

i wonder what the demographics are for work accidents. Jazz may be able to give us an insight into this

Dlish... I'm sure you're right about that, I just don't recall it as one of the risk factors listed, but then, I'm old and my studies in that area were brief and long ago. But it does make sense, and I'd bet the research does support it.

Sorry, no demographics here. I'll just state that in my opinion employers and employees are equally unsafe.

there must be guidlines and legislation for your state that can help with the minimum requirements, training and due diligence.

Even poking through this website for Ontario should give you a wealth of information, especially around expectations, frequently asked questions etc:

Safe At Work Ontario | Ontario Ministry of Labour