Analysis of industrial accident causes has revealed the significant weight of the human factor. One reason for the manifestation of the human factor is an employee's inadequate reaction to risk and risky behavior within the production environment and during technological operations. Inadequacy in risk perception is linked to the psychological characteristics of the employee's personality. Furthermore, risky behavior is influenced by socio-psychological relationships within the enterprise's social structure, the employee's immediate social circle, and the collective production relations of the organization.
Let us consider the psychological foundations for developing and implementing an effective HSE management system at an enterprise during professional training. Existing psychological approaches to researching and solving the problem of occupational safety are analyzed. Their significance in developing a modern, promising approach to this issue is demonstrated. An attempt is made to substantiate the constructiveness of a systemic approach based on the concept of organizational culture. A hypothesis is formulated regarding the need to develop this modification of the systemic approach, taking into account the system-evolutionary concept of personality and cultural-historical theory.
The need to analyze existing psychological approaches to occupational safety research is driven by the reform of the safety management system based on new principles, specifically: the transition from reactive accident response to proactive prevention; reliance on the "concept of acceptable risk"; and the application of a systemic approach to reforming the HSE sphere. Additionally, the development of a new psychological approach to HSE research and safety assurance is necessitated by the introduction of innovative IT technologies for safe behavior training in the workplace. Initially, the problem was addressed through an approach based on labor physiology and limited psychological data regarding the worker's state, aimed at preventing pathological conditions arising during work. The need for such psychophysiological research was dictated by economic reasons: insurance payments due to injuries and illnesses caused by workplace conditions. Consequently, management was forced to initiate research aimed at preventing fatigue, distress, and other functional impairments. The result of such research was the use of protective equipment, the introduction of work-rest schedules, the creation of "psychological relief rooms," etc. Further research in occupational safety psychology, while demonstrating the practical significance of developments within the medical-psychological approach, proved insufficient for ensuring comprehensive occupational health and safety.
New approaches are emerging in occupational safety psychology. In particular, the psychotechnical approach proposed by Hugo Münsterberg. The core idea of this approach is that, regarding occupational safety, there are stable individual psychological qualities of an employee that determine their predisposition to injuries and accidents. The practical application of this approach was limited to professional psychological selection. While not denying the importance of this measure for preventing injury-prone behavior, we note its limited capabilities.
Starting with the works of Elton Mayo, a socio-psychological approach began to develop in occupational safety psychology, linking industrial accidents to disrupted interpersonal relationships. Initially, socio-psychological factors were associated with an unfavorable socio-psychological climate. Regarding occupational safety, this climate was characterized by group norms that conflicted with workplace safety rules. The practical output of the classical socio-psychological approach was reduced to the promotion of safety rules and the development of a system of rewards and punishments. Notably, sanctions for violating HSE rules were used more frequently than rewards for compliance. We should note that this approach laid the foundation for the development of the organizational culture concept, which is promising for occupational safety psychology.
As professional training evolved, a psycho-pedagogical approach was formed, focusing on the development of knowledge and skills to eliminate injury-prone behavior and health threats. The main limitation of this approach is related not to the formation of knowledge about HSE rules or even the development of behavioral skills based on this knowledge, but to the motivation to apply them in the workplace. A promising direction for improving the psycho-pedagogical approach is the development of conceptual foundations for forming the value-semantic and motivational-need basis of a safe personality type.
Thus, an analysis of existing psychological approaches to solving the problem of occupational safety allows us to conclude that these approaches must be integrated. This integration is achieved through a systemic approach. Furthermore, it must be agreed that a systemic approach involves considering the diversity of all qualitative factors: economic, social, legal, organizational, national-cultural, and psychological. The development of an HSE management system (HSEMS) in production, or rather its improvement, is crucial.
It becomes necessary to search for conceptual foundations to increase the efficiency of this management system. We should note that even management specialists emphasize organizational values. At the same time, they highlight that despite legal requirements placing responsibility for safe working conditions on the employer, in actual management practice, the company's top executive often lacks proper motivation regarding occupational safety. Yet, the effectiveness of the HSEMS at enterprises primarily depends on the top executive's recognition of occupational safety as a primary organizational value. Based on this requirement, it can be assumed that the theoretical basis for implementing an effective HSEMS during professional training is the concept of organizational culture, which is widely used in management but insufficiently applied to the development of a multi-level behavioral safety management system. Foreign psychologists attach great importance to safety culture. In our country, there are occasional publications in which organizational culture is considered the basis of the HSEMS.
Many believe that the development of a multi-level behavioral management system and its implementation in professional training based on a systemic approach from the perspective of organizational culture should rely on the system-evolutionary concept of personality and L.S. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory. L.S. Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory reveals the specific features of the mental development of a social being — the human — who develops comprehensively through the interaction of biological and social principles.