Human behaviour

A new learning approach from DuPont Sustainable Solutions looks to
re-energise work safety by focusing on the beliefs and values of
individuals within an organisation

This year, the World Day for
Safety and Health at Work,
which took place on 28th
April, focused on the prevention of
occupational diseases which cause
more fatalities at work than
accidents. Around two million
people die from work-related
illnesses every year. Many can be
prevented, but companies often find
that safety efforts at work stagnate
after a while.

DuPont Sustainable Solutions has
developed the DuPont Integrated
Approach for Safety (DnA) to
address this challenge. DnA is aimed
at organisations that are already
advanced in their safety culture, but
whose efforts have plateaued.

DnA takes into account how and
why people make decisions. By
combining psychology, behavioural
safety and an understanding of the
social norms that govern us, DuPont
believes that DnA can take work
safety to new levels.

DnA’s approach is designed to
prevent employees from becoming
bored with an often repeated
message. It works at several levels to
transform organisations and change
the way its employees think about
safety. The programme uses a
practical model of human behaviour
to consider how the brain processes
information, how we think and what
we believe, as well as influential
external factors such as the work
environment and social climates.

With DnA companies can build an
effective, tailored change programme,
based on the specific needs of their
business and personnel, based on a
holistic understanding of the drivers
of human behaviour.

Applying DnA
DuPont Sustainable Solutions offers
an assessment tool – the DuPont
Values, Attitudes and Beliefs Index –
to build a profile of critical safety
beliefs, values and behaviours within
an organisation. DuPont
psychologists have designed this tool
to identify ways of engaging the
workforce of companies in many
different sectors.

In a second stage, DnA offers
competency-based learning, which
differs significantly from traditional
safety training. It works with
individuals to develop their skill level
from their own starting point and
then assesses progress against a
universal standard of competency,
rather than against the achievements
of other learners. Finally, DuPont
ProGress Coaching builds on the
level of competency an individual has
achieved during the training phase to
consolidate what has been learnt and
maximise on-the-job achievement.

This new approach moves away from
‘instruction’ to a facilitated learning
journey, with coaching being the
crucial difference.

It is during this stage of applying
theoretical learning to real life
operations, that participants can
expect to realise the most significant
improvements in their safety skills
and in influencing the safety attitudes
of their team members.