Personality and Industrial Safety:

Piles of research in psychology show that personality factors influence behavior. In fact, the first involvement of psychology in safety focused on finding the injury-prone personality. This research occurred in the 1950's, and was not very successful, partly because the assessment techniques were not sufficiently reliable nor valid; and because individual differences were overwhelmed by situational factors (like environmental hazards and ineffective, inconvenient, and uncomfortable protective equipment). Plus, safety promotion was dominated by a top-down, enforcement-focused mindset, as reflected by the common corporate slogan – " safety is a condition of employment ". These environmental and management-systems strategies did not fail. They tackled the low-hanging fruit and prevented numerous injuries and fatalities as a result. Today, however, the context has changed for many leading-edge companies. With environmental conditions and management systems more safety relevant, appropriate attention to the human dynamics of safety, including personality factors, will reap observable benefits. Here I want to provide a context for understanding the role of personality in industrial safety and health. This could provide increased awareness and understanding of the diversity of individual differences related to injury prevention, and inform the development of interventions to improve safety-related attitudes and behaviors.