Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
perspective, it is an obvious decision (at least in some regions of the
world), but at that time, it was a real breakthrough in thinking about
labor: Work should be possible without fatal accidents. Factories were
developed much more safely, equipment was tested for safety, and all
workers started to wear safety protection adjusted for each task. This
breakthrough can be qualified as a paradigm shift. The new paradigm
was that each employee should reach his retirement alive
overlooking
the fact that silicosis for miners was still widespread. In the paradigm
shift, people concluded that human life was more important than the
profit of the company. It would take us many years to find out that
most safety costs showed a positive return on investment due to a
more stable process performance.
—
Paradigm 1: Work should be possible without fatalities.
Safety breakthroughs
Level 1: Plants, tools, systems
Level 2: Procedures, safety regulations
Level 3: People, behavior, responsibility
Level 4: Attitudes &
information
processing
Area of Brain Based Safety
1960
1950
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020
1.2 SAFETY MANAGEMENT LEVEL 2
The new way of thinking and working proved effective, as the casualty
rate dropped dramatically. In the 1960s, the incident rate in the chemi-
cal industry stabilized at a certain level, and many companies around
the world embraced the idea that more was needed to create a safer
work environment. Then the focus shifted to those using the equip-
ment: the employees. They still could act unsafely in safe environ-
ments. Controlling the behavior of employees would improve safety
levels. With this in mind, a second breakthrough was the introduction
