Practical operation on site, how to avoid risks

Safety information is one of the important resources on which safety activities depend, and is a form of reflecting the differences between human safety things and safety activities and their changes. Safety management is to manage with the help of a large amount of safety information, and its modernization level determines the degree of application of information science and technology in safety management [1]. Safety information communication is the provision of information from those who know about safety risks to those who need to know, especially frontline employees.

A failure in communication is a major human error that leads to accidents [2], and many safety accidents are caused by the lack of effective communication of safety information, for example:

In the 2003 well blowout accident in Kaixian, Chongqing [3], a series of hidden information failed to attract attention before the accident, and it was not reported to the higher authorities, and no effective measures were taken, which caused the the occurrence and expansion of the accident.

Since the first half of 2008, according to incomplete statistics, the country has seven production safety accidents due to improper rescue or blind rescue caused by the expansion of casualties, from the initial involvement of 7 people, ultimately leading to 29 deaths, 14 people were injured, the lesson is extremely profound [4]. In these incidents, many practitioners lacked basic safety knowledge, did not undergo safety training, and were ignorant of safety knowledge.

In the investigation report on the March 23, 2005 BP Texas refinery explosion [5], the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board) found that the BP Texas refinery in the communication of safety information there are many problems. These included inadequate communication of equipment condition information during shift handovers, inadequate communication of information between equipment operators, and a lack of corporate policies to encourage effective communication, all of which contributed to the accident.

Similarly, failure in communication due to information was one of the causes of the 2003 Columbia Space Shuttle crash in the United States [6].

The deep-rooted causes of the above accidents are flaws in corporate safety management and poor safety culture.

Many enterprises have realized that safety culture is of great significance to enterprise safety management and accident prevention, and have carried out safety culture construction activities. However, the construction of safety culture is in a single form, which basically relies on the propaganda and education of the safety management department, and the communication channels of safety information and knowledge are only transmitted in one way from the top to the bottom, and lacks the attention and participation of the senior leadership of the enterprise on safety, and moreover Lack of participation of the majority of workers, therefore, resulting in the construction of enterprise safety culture is not obvious.

In the traditional safety management mode of communication channels of safety information is also one-way, most of the transmission from top to bottom, the lack of a bottom-up feedback safety information channels, management to formulate the various safety rules and regulations, the front-line employees are only passive implementation. They think that safety matters are only the business of the safety management department and have nothing to do with them. Even if they find hidden danger information or attempted incidents, few people take the initiative to report them. And the communication of safety information must be shared with each other and must be two-way in order to effectively fulfill its function.

The construction of an enterprise safety culture requires all personnel to *** with the efforts and innovation, both the need for effective leadership and commitment of the top management of the enterprise, but also the need for the active participation of the majority of employees, the link between the two is the effective communication of safety information.

The author analyzes the importance of effective communication of safety information on the construction of enterprise safety culture and safety management, and analyzes the factors and mechanisms of internal and external safety information communication, and puts forward countermeasures and measures to improve and enhance the effective communication of safety information in the hope that the construction of safety culture of the enterprise will be helpful.

1 The importance of effective communication

Jones [U.S.] that effective communication is very important for business managers as well as all employees, and that effective communication can improve productivity, enhance product quality, promote corporate innovation, and enhance the competitive advantage of the enterprise [7]. And Baker even regarded communication as the lifeblood of the organization, which is to convey the direction, expectation, process, product and attitude of the organization [8]. Good communication helps to promote a harmonious atmosphere and team spirit, facilitates the establishment of a good relationship between management and employees, effectively handles internal conflicts and complaints, and helps to alleviate the work pressure of employees. Effective communication is even more important for enterprise safety management, through communication with experienced employees on site, managers can be clear about the safety information on site, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the enterprise's safety decision-making and problem solving; at the same time, the employees through communication with the management can make clear their own safety responsibilities, improve their own safety awareness, but also promote the interest in participating in the management of safety affairs.

1.1 Legal Requirements and Occupational Health and Safety Standard Requirements

In response to the importance of safety information for safety production, many national safety regulations and standards have provisions for companies to communicate with employees about safety information.

For example, Article 36 of the People's Republic of China Work Safety Law states that production and management units shall inform employees of the risk factors, precautions, and emergency response measures that exist in their workplaces and workstations, and Article 45 states that employees in production and management units have the right to know the risk factors, precautions, and emergency response measures that exist in their workplaces and workstations, and have the right to know about the safety of their own workplaces and workstations. Meanwhile, Article 45 states that employees of production and management units have the right to know the risk factors, precautionary measures and accident emergency measures in their workplaces and workstations, and have the right to put forward suggestions on the work safety of their units.

The Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 of the United Kingdom requires employers to consult with employees on occupational health and safety matters.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act 1991 of the Commonwealth of Australia requires employers to provide the information, instruction, supervision, and training necessary to ensure that employees work in a safe manner that does not compromise their health. Australian state occupational health and safety laws have similar provisions.

The Chinese national standard GB/T 28001-2000 Occupational Health and Safety Management System Specification, section 4.4.3 is entitled "Consultation and Communication" and requires that the organization have procedures to ensure that there is mutual communication of relevant occupational health and safety information with employees and other relevant parties. and other interested parties on relevant OHS information. Similar requirements are found in the Australian/New Zealand Occupational Health and Safety Standard AS/NZS 4804:2001 and the International Labor Organization Guidelines for Occupational Safety and Health Management Systems ILO-OSH 2001.

1.2 The role of effective communication in building a safety culture

In order to address the issue of human error in production, the International Atomic Energy Agency's Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) first introduced the concept of a "safety culture in the nuclear power industry" in 1986 and defined the concept of "safety culture" as follows "Safety culture" is defined as: it is a synthesis of various characteristics and attitudes existing in units and individuals [9]. Subsequently, different scholars at home and abroad have given numerous definitions of safety culture, of which the most widely used is the definition given by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations of the Health and Safety Executive of the United Kingdom (HSE: ACSNI): the safety culture of an organization is a combination of individual and collective values, attitudes, competencies and behaviours, which are determined by the commitment to, and the way of working and proficiency in, the management of health and safety. Organizations with a good safety culture have the following characteristics: exchange of information based on mutual trust, *** enjoyment of the perception of the importance of safety, and confidence in the effectiveness of preventive measures [10]. From the above definition of safety culture, it can be seen that effective communication is a characteristic of a good safety culture and an important way to build a safety culture.

For the role of effective communication in safety culture, many institutions and scholars have conducted a lot of research.Glendon and Mckenna believe that effective communication is a characteristic of an organization with a positive safety culture, and that effective communication is based on mutual trust and that all people believe that safety is important [11]. The UK Health and Safety Executive considers communication to be one of the four "Cs" of a positive safety culture, with the other three "Cs" being competence, control and co-operation. (According to Cooper, an organization with a positive safety culture is characterized by a good safety communication system, where safety information is transmitted across the organization through two-way formal and informal communication channels [13].

Williams believes that one of the most effective ways to promote a safety culture and prevent injuries from occurring is to optimize safety communication [14].

Reason believes that a good safety culture requires a well-developed system to collect, analyze, and disseminate corporate safety information and to form an informed culture, which is supported by a reporting culture and a learning culture [14]. ) to support [15].

According to Vecchio-Sadus, effective communication mechanisms are important in encouraging employee involvement in safety matters, gaining employee cooperation and support, and maintaining a positive safety culture [16].

2 How and what safety information is communicated

The communication process consists of an information transfer stage and an information feedback stage. In the information transfer phase, information is ****enjoyed between two or more individuals or groups; in the information feedback phase, it is ensured that the information is effectively understood by the receiver, as shown in the figure below [7].

From the figure, it can be seen that effective communication should be a two-way street, not only including information transfer, information feedback is equally important, if the receiver of the information does not respond to the message, there is no communication channel established, but merely a transfer of information.

Information communication is usually verbal communication, written communication, visual communication, and non-verbal communication.

Oral communication is the simplest, most direct, most timely feedback way, oral communication can be through the phone, intercom, video and other media to communicate. Of course, the most effective way is still face-to-face communication, when managers and employees face-to-face conversation, they can not only through the language, but also the use of both sides of the facial expression, body language, etc. Exchange of information, at this time to pass the content is also the most rich, so the management of the safety inspection with the front-line staff to carry out face-to-face communication is very important.

The written word can be saved, easy to check later, and more formal, therefore, the enterprise's various safety policies, operating procedures, etc. are transmitted to the hands of employees through written communication. However, written communication also has shortcomings such as uncertainty of the recipient, overly lengthy statements, and too much jargon in the text.

Visual communication refers to the use of color, symbols, graphics and other means of information transfer, in the safety management, visual communication is very widely used, such as: safety slogans, safety posters, safety colors, safety warning signs, safety promotional videos and other ways.

In safety management, non-verbal communication is very important, for example: the safety behavior of enterprise management personnel for the safety behavior of enterprise employees to play an exemplary role.

Safety communication includes internal safety communication and external safety communication.

2.1 Internal safety information communication

In the enterprise safety management, the enterprise's safety production rules and regulations and operating procedures should be communicated to each employee through the top-down communication channels, while the site of the various accidents, hidden danger information through the bottom-up communication channels to the enterprise's highest level of management; in addition, the safety information should be communicated through the horizontal communication channels between different departments of the enterprise and between the departments of the enterprise and the bottom-up communication channels. In addition, safety information should also be passed through horizontal communication channels between different departments and within the departments of the enterprise. Typical internal communication methods include: safety reports, safety committee meetings, pre-shift meetings, group safety meetings, emails, documents, safety manuals, videos, promotional pictures, publicity boards, safety signs, etc.

2

These are the most common ways of communicating safety information to the public.

2.1.1 Visible Safety Commitment by Corporate Management

The safety commitment of corporate managers is a key element in building a safety culture, which determines how safety is perceived and acted by the rest of the organization's employees [14]. The importance that an enterprise attaches to safety can be reflected to its employees through the visible safety commitment of its managers. Managers should strictly abide by the enterprise's various safety management systems and play an exemplary role in safety behavior. Employees can judge the enterprise's emphasis on safety management through the behavior of managers, and then change their own behavior. Managers demonstrate their commitment to safety in the following ways: discussing safety as a primary topic at high-level enterprise meetings, participating in regular safety inspections, attending regular safety committee meetings, and actively participating in accident investigations. In addition to expanding safety information communication channels, encouraging employees to participate in the discussion of safety issues, listening carefully to employee suggestions, and providing timely feedback to employees are all manifestations of managers' commitment to safety.

2.1.2 Safety Responsibility of Personnel at All Levels of the Organization

Safety management in an organization requires the ****same efforts of all personnel, so it is very important to clarify the safety responsibility of every employee (from the top management of the organization to the ordinary employees) and to make it clear to all of them that they have their own responsibilities. When employees are clearly aware of their responsibilities in accident prevention, they will show great interest in maintaining a healthy and safe working environment, but first management has to inform them of the risks involved in their work and encourage employees to participate in safety matters to mitigate the level of risk [17].

2.1.3 Safety education and training

Safety education and training plays a very important role in the field of safety activities, through safety education and training can form and change people's understanding of safety and attitudes towards safety activities and things, so that people's behavior is more in line with the safety norms and requirements of social life and enterprise production [1]. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Work Safety has clear requirements for the safety education and training of enterprise leaders, safety management personnel, employees and special operators. Safety education and training is an important way of safety information exchange, and in safety education and training, effective communication is an important guarantee of good training results.

Some enterprises and organizations to carry out safety education and training effect is not very satisfactory, one of the reasons is the lack of effective communication in safety education and training, classroom teaching makes the training teacher and the lack of communication between the trainee, the teacher has no way to know whether the trainee really mastered the knowledge and skills learned. You can use a variety of media, including audio, video, pictures, cases, to increase the interest of trainees, and increase the number of practical courses; in the process of education and training to increase the interaction between teachers and students is also a way to improve the effectiveness of training.

2.1.4 Accident and Hidden Trouble Reporting and Investigation

Accident and hidden trouble reporting is an important way of transferring safety information from bottom to top of the enterprise, and it is also a basic form of employee participation in the safety affairs of the enterprise. Enterprises should set up a system of reporting accidents and hidden troubles, and make it clear that accident reporting is an employee's responsibility and duty. Many employees are reluctant to take the initiative to report accidents, especially some attempts, because they are afraid of being punished, and information on attempts and hidden dangers is very important for the prevention of major accidents, so measures should be taken to encourage employees to report accidents, attempts and information on hidden dangers, and to form a reporting culture [15].

One of the measures is to establish an anonymous reporting channel, you can set up a report box or some other forms, to encourage employees to report various accidents, hidden dangers and put forward some health and safety suggestions, opinions, for these reports, suggestions, managers must pay attention to, and give timely feedback. In addition, in the accident investigation should be based on the principle of not blaming the parties concerned, the purpose of which is to facilitate the staff to report all kinds of accidents and hidden dangers in a timely manner. The results of the accident investigation should be promptly announced to employees, especially the root cause of the accident, and encourage employees to put forward improvement measures to prevent the recurrence of accidents, these measures will highlight the management's commitment to safety, and the formation of a culture of learning [15], to prevent similar accidents from occurring again.

At the same time, accident information should also be transmitted to other departments in a timely manner to remind them to take measures to prevent the occurrence of such accidents; the department should also pay attention to the safety information of other departments on a regular basis, which is particularly important for large enterprises with production departments located in different regions, and many multinational corporations have a system known as Safety Alert, which realizes the **** enjoyment of safety information.

These are the most common ways to prevent accidents in one region from happening again in other regions.

2.1.5 Safety Meetings

Safety meetings are an important means of communicating safety information. The main purpose of a safety meeting is to convey safety information, negotiate safety countermeasures, and motivate personnel morale, which all affect the participants' production activities after the meeting. A safety meeting can be a large meeting of all employees, or just a discussion between managers and individual employees; safety meetings can be formal or informal. Every day before the shift meeting, the team leader spends a few minutes to emphasize the importance of safety for the change of staff attitude, accident prevention has a very important role.

2.2 Safety information communication outside the enterprise

Safety communication between the enterprise and the outside can also have a great impact on the safety production of the enterprise. According to the law, enterprises need to report accident information and occupational disease information to law enforcement agencies in a timely manner. Moreover, enterprises need to keep information flowing with higher management, relevant emergency rescue units, and units and residents around the enterprise during emergency response to accidents. Enterprises also need to frequently contact the supervisory and management departments of work safety to understand the latest information on work safety as well as the updates of relevant regulations and standards, so as to facilitate the timely adjustment of the enterprise's safety management system in accordance with the relevant requirements. The company also needs to communicate with contractors, suppliers and customers on a regular basis.

2.2.1 Updating regulations and standards

All activities must comply with relevant laws and regulations, and relevant safety standards are the basis for the development of operating procedures and work instructions. Therefore, the enterprise should establish and maintain procedures to identify and obtain the regulations and standards that apply to the enterprise, and the enterprise should also update information about regulations and other requirements and communicate this information to employees [18]. The easiest way to access regulations and standards is through the safety regulator's website, while frequent visits to relevant websites can also provide access to a lot of safety information.

2.2.2 Communication of safety information with contractors, suppliers and customers

Enterprises often need to hire contractors to perform some activities in their production activities, and it is very important to ensure the safety of the contractors and their employees who are engaged in related activities in this enterprise. On the one hand, the safety training of the contractor's employees is necessary; more importantly, safety should be a clear and important criterion in the selection of contractors.

When purchasing machinery, equipment and raw materials, in addition to considering the quality of the product, you should also assess the impact of the product on the safety of the production of the enterprise, especially some special equipment and hazardous chemicals. The first step is to confirm the relevant qualifications of the manufacturer. In addition to providing the products, the manufacturer also needs to provide appropriate guidance information, preferably training for the enterprise's employees, so that the enterprise can use these equipment and materials safely. Corresponding to this is the enterprise to provide customers with products should also provide the appropriate safety information services.

3 Factors affecting effective communication

Effective communication depends on the receiver of a message receiving it correctly and understanding the intention of the sender. A complete communication process consists of a number of links (as shown in the communication process diagram), each link of error may lead to communication failure, the following table lists the possible errors in the various aspects of communication, and the reasons for the errors.

The above list is in the communication process due to the failure of each link in the communication failure. Factors affecting effective communication also include personal and organizational factors. According to Yu Shiwei, there are 10 kinds of barriers to communication, which can be divided into the following two categories:

1) The barriers that exist between people are called personal barriers, and the personal barriers include: ① the difference in status; ② the credibility of the information; ③ the cognitive bias; ④ the past experience; ⑤ the influence of emotions.

2) The barriers that exist between companies are called organizational barriers, and organizational barriers include: ① flood of information; ② time pressure; ③ organizational climate; ④ information filtering; ⑤ information feedback.

There are 3 ways to overcome the barriers, i.e., utilizing feedback; simplifying language; and active listening [19].

4 Suggestions for Enhancing Effective Communication of Security Messages

4.1 Developing Good Communication Skills

Although communication may involve a wide range of communication, either between individuals or between two groups, the most basic communication is still between two people. The following are some communication skills for message senders and message receivers:

1) Communication skills for message senders are as follows[7]: ① Think before you speak; ② Send clear and complete messages; ③ Send messages that are understandable to the receivers; ④ Choose the right medium of information; ⑤ Avoid filtering of information and distortion of information; ⑥ Provide truthful information in order to avoid the spreading of rumors. (vi) Provide truthful information to avoid rumor spreading.

2) The communication skills of the receiver of the message are as follows[8]: ① stop talking and listen; ② experience the other party's feelings; ③ show the other party that you are willing to listen; ④ don't jump to conclusions without detailed study; ⑤ ask questions to show that you understand.

4.2 Safety Observation

Safety observation is an effective means of correcting unsafe behaviors, and at the same time, safety observation can cultivate employee safety awareness, promote employee participation in safety matters, and enhance open communication between management and employees.

Safety observation should be carried out regularly as a daily safety activity of the enterprise, and the safety observers should include senior management and front-line employees. It is very important for senior management to participate in safety observation activities, and it is an effective way to demonstrate management's commitment to safety. When the top management of an enterprise inspects the work site and expresses concern for safety, the personnel on site will feel that this concern is a reflection of the company's policy, and this feeling will naturally become a motivation for safety in the workplace. Managers and employees face-to-face direct discussion can be closer to the distance between senior management and front-line employees.

The safety observation process includes observation, on-site unsafe behavior correction, group discussion of observation results, and the development of effective measures to prevent the recurrence of unsafe behavior and unsafe conditions.

4.3 Improvement of various safety systems

Some important safety management systems are themselves based on the exchange of safety information, such as: the shift handover system, work permit system; and some other safety management systems are to provide safety information to the various activities of the enterprise, such as: locking / tagging system. These safety management systems must be improved and employees must be educated and trained.

1) Handover system

Many companies use shift work system, although it improves work efficiency, but it has a negative impact on the safety of the enterprise. Many accidents are caused by the lack of effective communication of safety information during the shift handover, for example, the BP Texas refinery explosion mentioned above, so it is important to ensure effective communication during the shift handover. Shift handovers generally involve both team leaders and employees, and at either level, the handover needs to be done in person, at a time that ensures that key information is recorded in the handover log. The information handed over by the team leader generally includes the safety status of the utility equipment, the integrity of the safety facilities and so on.

2) Locking/tagging system

Locking/tagging is an important part of preventing accidents in the process of repairing and maintaining machinery and equipment. The purpose of locking is to avoid accidental startup of machinery and equipment; the warning tag is to illustrate the purpose of locking and to remind the personnel to pay attention. Machinery and equipment should be locked and tagged by the employee responsible for carrying out the operation in question and keeping the key. If there is more than one operator, each operator should lock his/her own lock and hang his/her own warning tag. At the end of a job, machinery and equipment may only be started up after all operators have unlocked and removed their own warning tags, and only after notification of the people around the machinery and equipment has been given. Locking/tagging should normally be used at the same time, and tagging should only be used alone if the equipment switch cannot be locked.

Warning tags should be hung at the equipment switch and should clearly state the name of the operator, what they are doing etc. In order to implement the locking/tagging system, specific operating procedures should be established and all employees of the enterprise should be trained to ensure that all personnel are familiar with the system.

3) Work Permit System

For some non-routine high-risk work, such as confined space operations, fire operations, work at height, high voltage operations, etc., a work permit system must be implemented. Before the issuance of the work permit, the work permit holder should consider the work involved in a variety of possible hazards, and in the work permit to indicate the need to take hazardous control measures, the work permit holder should also ensure that the dangerous work is completed by employees with relevant qualifications. In the implementation of hazardous operations, the work permit holder should carefully review the safety measures listed in the work permit for correctness and completeness.

4.4 Safety management information system

The safety management information system uses the enterprise intranet as a platform to collect, organize, and distribute safety information, provide employees with a variety of safety rules and regulations, operating procedures, and safety knowledge, safety record forms, etc., as well as to provide safety statistics for the safety decision-making of the enterprise management. A perfect safety management information system can ensure that the right safety information is delivered at the right time to the people who need it. The safety management information system should also include the following functions to facilitate effective communication of safety information and employee participation:

1) Collect photos of unsafe behaviors and unsafe conditions in different operations, and set up an online photo library of hazards to clearly illustrate the potential hazards of different operations, provide practical reference materials for the majority of the employees, and improve employee safety awareness.

2) A safety training program is available on the intranet for employees to revisit or train before starting a new job.

3) Open an online safety forum section to encourage employees to participate in safety discussions.

5 Conclusion

1) Effective communication of safety information is an important way for enterprises to build a positive safety culture, and good communication is conducive to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of safety decision-making and problem solving, as well as helping the majority of employees to clarify their safety responsibilities and improve their safety awareness.

2) enterprise safety management, the enterprise's safety production rules and regulations and operating procedures should be communicated through top-down communication channels to each employee, while the site of the various accidents, hidden dangers of information through bottom-up communication channels to the highest management of the enterprise; in addition, safety information should also be passed through the horizontal communication channels in the different departments of the enterprise and the departments within the transfer. Safety information can be passed through safety training, safety meetings, safety documents and other ways to pass within the enterprise, the most effective form of management and staff face-to-face conversation.

3) The communication of safety information between the enterprise and the outside is also very important for the safe production of the enterprise, which mainly includes the updating of regulations and standards, and the exchange of safety information with suppliers and contractors.

4) Through the implementation of measures to improve the effective communication of safety information, to overcome obstacles to effective communication, to form a good communication atmosphere, to encourage employees to report unsafe behaviors and unsafe conditions and attempts to encourage employees rather than blame them, safety awareness will be y rooted in people's hearts, and the company's safety performance will achieve good results.