Can you trust people to protect themselves or others?
There is currently a debate in many countries around the world on whether to make use of face masks compulsory as one rule that applies to everyone in all situations or leave that that judgment at the discretion of individuals.
We try to explain here as humans weʼre not rational all the time and thus cannot be trusted to protect ourselves or others at all times and in all situations. There are lots of conflicting situations in our daily lives with personal beliefs and assumptions, perceptions, conflict of interests, risk appetite or risk aversion, social norms in some cultures, the “just one last time” syndrome etc…making us not able to make the right decisions at all times. We see this everyday in our life. Will people conform to social distancing when there are no markings on the floor at train stations, in front of shops, pharmacies? Just look at what happens in public areas and you have the answer. The markings remind and push people to do that, at least the starting point.
This has already been the case even before the pandemic. Do we always stick to our end of year resolution to lose weight or exercise an hour a day? Do people stop drinking and driving despite the dangers and consequences of doing so? Do people just quit smoking when they know smoking is dangerous? Health and safety accidents happen every day from failure to comply to basic rules when they exist or not. At least when rules exist, people are forced to apply them and when absence of rules can lead to a disaster this gap should be timely closed by decision makers at all levels. When peopleʼs lives are at stake, time is of essence and instead of wasting time talking about whether people should be entrusted with face masks use , their use -at a time of no vaccine or accepted treatment available- should be made compulsory for all and discussions should rather focus on how we design face masks so that everyone can use them effectively at all time to protect all. This has already been the case even before the pandemic. Do we always stick to our end of year resolution to lose weight or exercise an hour a day? Do people stop drinking and driving despite the dangers and consequences of doing so? Do people just quit smoking when they know smoking is dangerous? Health and safety accidents happen every day from failure to comply to basic rules when they exist or not. At least when rules exist, people are forced to apply them and when absence of rules can lead to a disaster this gap should be timely closed by decision makers at all levels. When peopleʼs lives are at stake, time is of essence and instead of wasting time talking about whether people should be entrusted with face masks use , their use -at a time of no vaccine or accepted treatment available- should be made compulsory for all and discussions should rather focus on how we design face masks so that everyone can use them effectively at all time to protect all.
Do existing masks designs fit for purpose? Should we design specific and cost effective ones for summer, winter so people can breathe normally ? We do have for example protective clothing wear for winter so this should be the case for protective masks too . There is clear evidence in past accidents that people do not regularly wear personal protective equipment given to them when these PPE are uncomfortable, too small, hot inside etc.. or not fit for purpose and this lead in return to injuries.
Itʼs well demonstrated by award winning psychologist and Nobel prize Daniel Kahnman that people are not rational decision makers and lots of factors from basic needs to perceptions, our starting point, the rush to get something done, cultural issues affect what we do, how we accept and react to situations.
In factories, on the roads, on job sites etc…we have rules for people to comply with and there is no discussion around whether to apply those rules or not. If we accept rules are there to protect everyone so why leaving it to some people and situations? Making bad decisions that expose people and or delay their protection. Companies historically have achieved better safety performance by primarily focusing on better equipment design relying on them to protect users. Next, management systems were introduced with a set of tools processes, rules etc… to further reduce the accident rates. Then theyʼve worked on their companies culture, beliefs and values and embed those in their ways of doing things, operating their sites.
In essence , the aim is to influence attitude of managers and workers since attitudes determine behavior, align and shape everyone attitudes and perception of risks , using their sense of collective responsibility and caring for each other to reduce accident rate and protect everyone at the workplace.
Incident prevention in health, safety and environment starts with effective assessment of hazards related to the projects, work to be done and their potential impacts followed by identification of the right and adequate controls starting with a careful design and selection of the right equipments, mitigation measures and most importantly maintaining the effectiveness and quality of the controls in place throughout the project execution period.
How do you get quality, better, stronger, more effective risk assessment done today with less paperwork and expertise ? How do you collect data during projectsʼ execution without sending lots of safety inspectors to site? Do your people have the right and adequate tools that prevent cross contamination, relevant and readily available standards to do a good job, disinfection of equipment?
Itʼs been long established by experts in human errors across all industries and situations that people react to the environment and in incident prevention focus should be on offering or creating the right and perfect environment to start with. The combination of rules, policies and enforcement, systems and equipmentʼs designs provide that perfect environment which should be constantly scanned for breaches or holes for timely intervention. Use of face mask is no exception, clear rules must be set for everyone to wear a mask to protect themselves and others and thatʼs the responsibility of decision makers. Rules without enforcement add little value to people protection.
There is also this debate around whether masks should be used indoor and also outdoor. No one can really anticipate people all all situations he’ll meet when he goes outside where for a walk or even in a car where you may come across someone who asks for help or a routine check up by police or traffic controllers. Its also a sign to the user that somenthing might happen and make him alert and can even help reduce the bad habit of regularly touching faces . The same way defensive driving training equips drivers for unexpected hazardous situations by adopting the right behaviors on the roads and anticipate bad or dangerous driving for other road users.
Wearing masks is not the only protective barrier but it protects and guards against unexpected situations you may encounter indoor and outdoor. We all have responsibility to make the right choices for ourserves and others.