A diagnostic tool to evaluate the proactivity levels of risk-reporting activities by the workforce

Prevention of occupational injuries is an important task of Human Resource Management. Empiric research showed that risk perception, safety communication and worker's participation in safety programs may have a relevant role in reducing accident and injury occurrence - see for example (Conchie, 2013). These considerations lead us to this study to propose a new methodology which consists in an index aimed to assess the proactivity of worker participation in safety management systems. The innovation consists in defining a diagnostic measurement model to assess the degree of workforce proactivity, considering a specific kind of participatory contribute by workers for safety promotion in the workplace, like the spontaneous risk-reporting initiatives. The measurement tool has been defined and tested by an interdisciplinary team composed of four university researchers (human factor experts) and two site safety managers of a chemical site which is chosen with the purpose to apply for the first time the new tool. Preliminary results show that different levels of proactivity were adopted and that the highest levels of proactivity are relatively less frequent. The tool offers relevant diagnostic information for the industrial organizations which aim to achieve higher level of proactivity in risk management, offering practical indications for managerial interventions focused on stimulating and improving appropriate participation by the workforce.