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The Spectrum of Safety-Related Rule Violations 2016

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652745
2016
EDMXXX10.1177/1555343416652745Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision MakingSafety-Related Rule Violations
The Spectrum of Safety-Related Rule Violations:
Development of a Rule-Related Behavior Typology
Sebastian Brandhorst and Annette Kluge, Ruhr University Bochum,
Bochum, Germany
In a production context, safety-related rule violations are often associated with rule breaking and
unsafe behavior even if violations are not necessarily malevolent. Nevertheless, our past experiments
indicated a range of strategies between violation and
rule compliance. Based on this finding, different types
of rule-related behavior for managing organizations’
goal conflict between safety and productivity are
assumed. To deepen the understanding of rule violations, the behavior of 152 participants in a business
simulation was analyzed. Participants operated a plant
as a production worker for 36 simulated weeks. In
each week, they could choose to comply with safety
rules or to violate them in order to maximize their
salary. A cluster analysis of the 5,472 decisions made
on how to operate the plant included the severity
of the violations, the number of times participants
changed their rule-related strategy, and the extent
of failure/­success of these strategies. Five clusters of
rule-related behavior were extracted: the compliant
but ineffective “executor” (15%), the productionoptimizing and behavioral variable “optimizer” (13%),
the successful and compliant “well behaved” (36%),
the notoriously violating “inconvincible” (29%), and
the “experimenter” (7%), who does not succeed with
various violating strategies.
Keywords: goal conflict, strategy change, failure, unsafe
acts, person approach
Address correspondence to Sebastian Brandhorst, Industrial,
Organisational and Business Psychology, Department of
Psychology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150,
44801 Bochum, Germany, sebastian.brandhorst@rub.de.
Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
2016, Volume 10, Number 2, June 2016, pp. 178­–196
DOI: 10.1177/1555343416652745
Copyright © 2016, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
Introduction
We’d like people to remember that Sheri
was 23 years old, the day she went to work
at UCLA [University of ­California, Los
Angeles], for the last time. That she was a
young girl, living her life to the fullest. . . .
She really, really wanted to make a difference in the world. She really wanted to
change it. (U.S. Chemical Safety Board
[CSB], 2011)
The tragic case of Sheri Sangji, a research
assistant at UCLA in 2008 who died due to
serious burns 18 days after a laboratory accident, is one of many examples of the consequences of human error for which she was not
responsible. In this case, Sangji’s supervisor
violated basic rules for lab safety, which led to
the young woman’s death (Morris, 2012). On a
larger scale, the Piper Alpha catastrophe in
1988 culminated in US$3.4 billion of property
damage, massive maritime pollution, and 167
fatalities (Taimin, 2011). This incident, along
with an estimated 70% of all accidents in the
production industry, was rooted in rule violations (Mason, 1997).
In this paper we aim to gain some insight into
the different phenotypes of violating behavior.
Even with the outcome of tragic events in mind,
there seem to be some potential benefits of rule
violations, for example, detecting potentially
harmful rules or regulations. By identifying different types of rule-related behavior, there are
some opportunities to prevent unintended
events but also to meet employees’ demands
and to apply their abilities where they are
needed.
Safety-Related Rule Violations
Unsafe Acts: Violation and
Optimization
Previous research in human factors (e.g.,
Reason, 2008), as well as our own research
(Kluge, Badura & Rietz, 2013), has shown that
improving safety in organizations requires an
investigation of the interplay between organizational and person-related factors affecting rule
violations. For this reason, the following paragraph will shape the term violation to enable a
consistent understanding.
One of the most cited and accepted concepts
regarding unsafe acts is Reason’s (1990) human
error. Human errors are divided into unintended
and intended actions, whereby slips and lapses
are the manifestations of unintended actions that
deviate from a given rule. Even when a mistake
arises from intended actions, it is still a “classic”
error. This type of error emerges from the misapplication of a good rule or the application of a
bad rule. Nonetheless, following the rule was
intended. The rule-related behavior of interest in
this case, the safety-related rule violation (henceforth shortened to “violation”), is characterized
as a deliberate but nonmalevolent deviation
from safety rules and regulations (Reason,
2008). To distinguish between errors and violations, violations must fulfill two conditions: The
violated rule was known and the act of violating
was intended (Whittingham, 2004).
Although absent in theoretical considerations,
a tendency to optimize the outcome by adjusting
the standards is reported within the literature
dealing with catastrophes or disasters, such as the
explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in
1986 (Starbuck & Milliken, 1988). The authors
sum up that the more fine-tuning (this term was
coined by Starbuck and Milliken and means a
rising severity of violating safety standards) that
occurs, the more likely something fatal will arise
outside the boundaries of safety. These results
are in line with Reason’s (2008) Swiss cheese
model and Verschuur’s operating envelope (Hudson, Verschuur, Parker, Lawton, & van der Graaf,
2000). Reason’s Swiss cheese model describes
unsafe acts as holes in defense layers, which
depict different organizational levels that should
prevent unintended events or outcomes. The
operating envelope defines acts that are safe in
the center of safety boundaries. With increasing
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quantity or extent of unsafe acts, they move away
from the safe center to the critical boundaries. In
both models, when using the term fine-tuning,
this behavior would increase the holes in the
defense layers or move a system to the boundaries of safety and amplify the likelihood of accidents and disasters.
Research Approaches to Violations
Authors of previous research covering topics
relating to rule-related violations have considered
the intention, situational factors, and the frequency of violations (Reason, 1990). Later models also take into account a range of factors, such
as organizational or work system factors (Alper
& Karsh, 2009). However, so far, researchers
have not considered the qualities of violations,
meaning whether all parts of the rule have been
violated, only a small part, or a particular section.
For such a consideration, the fusion of system
and person approaches (Reason, 2000) is beneficial but brings with it some potentially negative
social connotations that might inhibit an application. Therefore, the content-based boundaries of
these two approaches will be briefly outlined and
discussed.
Within the system approach to violations, the
focus is on the organizational preconditions
rather than on human behavior. Although a system approach proclaims to take the focus away
from blaming or scapegoating someone, and
instead moves toward reaching an understanding of an accident’s occurrence (Whittingham,
2004), it should not come to be seen as sacrilegious to analyze an employee’s actions in detail,
which is a person approach. For a holistic view
on rule-related behavior, research could benefit
from incorporating the person approach, especially in the case of violations. This type of
human error is, by definition, accompanied by
intention. Another reason not to abandon the
person approach lies in the potential beneficial
value of violations, described by Besnard and
Greathead (2003). The authors extend the term
violation with the aspect of cognitive flexibility
of the violating person who handles faulty procedures by adapting his or her actions to organizational requirements that cannot be met with (at
least part of) the given orders. But investigating
adaptive behavior premises a person approach.
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The utility of merging the system and person
approaches to safety-related rule violations is
demonstrated by the behavioral adaptation to
changed circumstances caused by the treatment
of detected rule violations found in previous
work by our research group (von der Heyde,
Brandhorst, & Kluge, 2013): When the number
of rule violations detected by the system
declined, the hidden tendency toward the socalled soft violation increased. This violating
but undetectable behavior bears the potential to
evolve from the level of an almost-accident to a
severe catastrophe by bringing the operator or
system to the edge (Hudson et al., 2000), but it
can also shed some light on faulty procedures
(Besnard & Greathead, 2003).
The Study’s Purpose
We coined the term soft violation due to our
observation of behavior that does not fit into the
terms compliance and violation (von der Heyde
et al., 2013). The dichotomous perspective
on rule-related behavior (compliance or violation) does not cover the fine-tuning character
implicitly depicted by the models of Reason
(2008) and Verschuur (Hudson et al., 2000) and
explicitly described by Starbuck and Milliken
(1988). Further efforts need to be undertaken
to develop a conceptual framework to deduce
other possible strategies of noncompliance or
optimization, respectively. The novel idea in the
present paper is to enrich the system approach
and find an action-oriented description of rulerelated strategies. The potential strategies for
this person approach will be identified first. We
assume a range of strategies that differ in their
quality of rule-violating behavior. The aim is to
conduct a cluster analysis to identify different
types of rule-related behaviors, which differ
on three dimensions described in the following
paragraphs.
Dimensions of Rule-Related Behavior
Most theories concerning rule-related behavior have at least one characteristic in common:
The operator’s action is treated as an isolated
and single event (although the idea of routine
work is mentioned in some theories; Reason,
1997), which merely deductively includes a
repeated execution of a task. Desai (2010) also
implied that routine work is repeated work with
different options of behavioral patterns, but an
explicit consideration seems to be lacking.
In this section, a set of factors will be considered that embody the person and system
approaches to operators’ behavior within their
routine and therefore repeating work task, with the
aim of deriving specific rule-related behaviors.
The first factor contains the results obtained
from analyzing the rule-related behavior in a
repeated complex task (further described in the
Method section). A view on the operator’s actions
enables the calculation of a value that describes
an overall magnitude of committed violations.
Action-related theories, such as the Rubicon
model of action phases (Heckhausen &
Leppmann, 1991) and the action regulation model
(Frese & Zapf, 1994), incorporate the assessment
of an action’s outcome by the acting person. Reason (2000) mentioned with respect to an observed
behavior that it can be stated as rewarding or
unrewarding.
This second aspect will be taken into account
to describe the operator’s rule-related behavior
in the sense of achieving success by implementing a certain behavioral strategy. Different
behavioral strategies are linked to different outcomes. If the expected outcome is achieved, the
behavior (in the sense of the chosen strategy) is
assumed to be perceived as rewarding; otherwise, it will be experienced as unrewarding,
which within this paper will be termed failure.
With this factor, a system-oriented value is considered, meaning that the outcome of the operator’s action is taken into account. Within his
efficiency–thoroughness trade-off (ETTO) principle, Hollnagel (2009) discusses failure as a
possible result of a trade-off between efficiency
and thoroughness. He argues for a focus on different types of performance variability rather
than an outcome-oriented perspective. This unidimensional (efficiency vs. thoroughness) and
descriptive (performance variability) approach
can be augmented with explanatory potential by
means of a multidimensional characterization of
rule-related behavior. From our perspective, the
performance variability is depicted by a range of
strategies that differ in their extent of rule compliance/violation and by an outcome assessment
as success or failure.
Safety-Related Rule Violations
The third dimension taken into account is the
behavioral adjustment. With regard to the aspect
of action regulation, the assessment of the executed strategy provides feedback, which will
then be considered for the subsequent goal
development and plan generation (Frese & Zapf,
1994). The model of planned behavior also
relates to some past behavior (Ajzen, 1991). In
line with the aforementioned action- or behavior-­
related theories, a behavioral adaptation by the
operator within a routine work scenario is
assumed, which will be described as the extent
of a behavior shift. A change in the choice and
application of a particular behavioral strategy is
assumed to be possibly provoked by the feedback perceived from a certain outcome that is
assessed as a success or failure. However, this
conclusion should not lead to the possible fallacy that a high rate of failure prevents the strategy concerned from being maintained or that it
will automatically lead to a behavior shift. For
this conceptual assumption, the behavior shift is
the third factor considered in describing the
typology of operators’ behavior.
These three factors—violation score, failure,
and behavior shift—are considered for a subsequent cluster analysis in order to identify different types of rule-related behavior.
Method
Participants in the present study consisted of
152 students (38 female) of engineering science
from the University of Duisburg-Essen with a
mean age of 21.32 years (SD = 2.39). They were
recruited by flyers and before lectures from January
to July 2013 and were compensated with €50. The
study was approved by the local ethics committee.
To investigate safety-related rule violations,
our research group applied a simulated production plant (WaTrSim; Figure 1). This simulation
depicts a wastewater treatment plant that was
developed in collaboration with experts in automation engineering at the Technical University of
Dresden, Germany, in order to achieve a realistic
setting depicting a process control task with high
face validity (Kluge, Badura, Urbas, & Burkolter,
2010). The simulation was implemented to control an actual functioning plant model.
Participants are in the role of a control room
operator and start up the plant for segregating
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delivered industrial wastewater into its components (solvent and water) to maximize the
production outcome and to minimize failure in
segregation. There are two kinds of crucial
plant sections the participants adjust: the
valves and the tanks. Operators have to adjust
the flow rate of the valves determining the
speed of filling and clearance of the tanks.
Additionally, the capacity of the tanks must be
considered.
The simulation control phase in this study
contains 58 stages that are split into 10 training
stages and 48 production stages. These stages
depict a whole production year, with 12 stages
each quarter. Each stage takes 3 min. For the
complex task of starting up the plant, two procedures are at hand to lead the plant into a balanced state of production. The first is a short and
faster, and therefore more productive, one (in
terms of output) and contains eight steps (highrisk procedure). However, the disadvantage of
using this high-risk procedure is that the plant
enters a critical system state, which puts the
plant in a vulnerable condition with an increased
probability of a deflagration. Despite the critical
system state, the plant operates and segregates
wastewater as it would in a safe state, but there
is a potential loss of components and production
due to a deflagration. To guarantee the comparability of circumstances, the deflagration probability is preprogrammed. If the participants violate the safety-related rules during the production week with predefined deflagration
possibility, they will be informed about the damage that occurred that makes the plant (and
therefore the interface) inoperative in the respective week with a loss of all production outcome
and salary.
Alternatively, there is a lower-risk procedure,
which consists of the high-risk procedure
extended by three additional steps. Due to these
extra steps, more time is required to start up the
plant, and a lower production outcome (approximately 1,100 liters) is generated compared with
the high-risk procedure (approximately 1,300
liters). The advantage of this lower-risk procedure is that it avoids a critical system state. Consequently, the participants are placed in a goal
conflict between safety (rule compliance) and
productivity (rule violation).
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Figure 1. The WaTrSim interface with its components (valves, tanks, and heatings) and performance gauges.
Procedure
To prevent social desirability, the participants were given the cover story that the study
was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of
complex task training. They were told that
they could discontinue at any time (in terms of
informed consent) and that the payment given
for the 5-hr study would depend on their performance and could reach “up to” €50. Due to ethical considerations, all participants were actually
paid €50 after the participation, irrespective of
their production outcome.
Participants had to complete a knowledge
test
regarding
wastewater
treatments
(­self-developed), a general mechanical-technical knowledge test (self-developed), and a general mental ability (GMA) test (Wonderlic,
2002). They were introduced to WaTrSim (Figure 1) and received training for the high-risk
procedure, which was completed by a self-conducted test to check their ability to start up the
plant. The production phase started with the
first 12 production stages. After this first quarter, the participants were informed that an accident had occurred at another part of the plant and
that a new and safe procedure would be mandatory from now on. The hazardous but more
productive high-risk procedure was now
­
f­ orbidden, and the safe, lower-risk procedure was
introduced and declared as mandatory. From this
point on, conducting the high-risk procedure was
regarded as a rule violation.
Participants were then trained and tested in
conducting the safe, lower-risk procedure, with
an emphasis on the safety-related substeps leading to a safe startup procedure to ensure that they
were aware of the differences between the two
procedures. They handled the plant for the next
three quarters, and after the production phase
was completed, further personality questionnaires were administered regarding the participants’ presence (Frank & Kluge, 2014), cautiousness (Marcus, 2006), self-interest (Mohiyeddini
& Montada, 2004), and sensitivity toward injustice (Schmitt, Maes, & Schmal, 2004). Finally,
the participants were debriefed and paid.
Content-Related Differences in the
Startup Procedures
Both procedures, the high-risk procedure
and the lower-risk procedure, are divided into
two parts. The first part of each is crucial for
causing or preventing the critical system state
(upper-left and upper-right light gray squares
in Table 1) and is depicted by way of example
in Figure 2. The safety-related substeps of the
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Order
Straight
Reactance Contravention
High-Risk Procedure
Note. Checks represent correctly conducted substeps (all steps of each rectangle must be conducted); crosses represent violated substeps (merely one substep must
be violated in each rectangle); dashes represent nonappendant substeps.
Safety-related substeps
Disable follow-up control
Valve V1: flow rate 500 liters per hour
Wait until capacity of R1 > 200 liters
Valve V2: flow rate 500 liters per hour
Wait until capacity of repository
R1 > 400 liters
Non-safety-related substeps
Valve V3: flow rate 1,000 liters per hour
Wait until capacity of heating bucket
HB1 > 100 liters
Adjust heating bucket HB1
Wait until heating bucket HB1 > 60°C
Activate counterflow distillation
fractionating column (Kolonne) K1
Valve V4: flow rate 1,000 liters per hour
Substep
Lower-Risk Procedure
Table 1: Combination of Possible Ways of Execution and the Resulting Strategies
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Figure 2. Depiction of safety-critical substeps by conducting the first part of lower-risk procedure. (a) Disable
follow-up control. (b) Valve V1: flow rate 500 liters per hour. (c) Wait until repository R1 > 200 liters. (d) Valve
V2: flow rate 500 liters per hour. (e) Wait until repository R1 > 400 liters.
lower-risk procedure, which prevents accidents,
are depicted as an example. The adjustment of
valves V1 and V2 is joined (follow-up control),
meaning that a regulation would affect both. A
simultaneous opening up would mix different
concentrations of solvent and would provoke
the critical system state in terms of a potentially
explosive fluid. To prevent this critical system
state, the valves’ follow-up must be disabled
(Figure 2a) in order to adjust the valves in succession (Figures 2b and 2d) under consideration
of specific levels of the mixing repository R1
(Figures 2c and 2e). In this way, the solvents’
concentration will be balanced. Nevertheless,
the process of mixing the different concentrations of solvent remains a critical phase within
the system and procedure. If some substeps
of the first part of the lower-risk procedure
(Lower-Risk Procedure 1) are not correctly
conducted (e.g., the operator did not wait until
the tank R1 contains a least 200 liters), a critical system state results and there is a risk of a
deflagration.
A soft violation, as described earlier, would
mean that although the safety-critical steps are
conducted as well as the non-safety-related substeps, the latter are not implemented in the prescribed manner. For a soft violation, the flow
rates of the downstream valves (V3 and V4)
may be adjusted to be higher than demanded in
order to raise the return from the distillation and
therefore the production output. The straight
contravention, as another example, would mean
leaving out the three substeps (rule violation),
setting V1 to, for example, 700 liters per hour
(procedure violation of safety-related segment)
and opening V3 at 1,400 liters per hour (procedure violation of non-safety-related substeps)
before tank R1 reaches the capacity of 400 liters.
This action would result in an earlier production
start and a more effective return from the distillation.
As the second part of both startup procedures
(High-Risk Procedure 2 and Lower-Risk Procedure 2) does not contain any safety-related substeps, these parts are equal (bottom dark gray
rectangle in Table 1). In summary, the following
two aspects are relevant for the consideration of
the two available procedures:
1. The first part of both procedures is safety related
and is differentiated by the startup procedures.
2. The second part of each procedure is not safety
related and is equivalent.
From the perspective of the person approach,
there are three decisions to consider: (a) Which
procedure is chosen? (b) Are safety-related
substeps affected? (c) Are non-safety-related
substeps affected? These decisions are made in
a trade-off space between risk and reward. The
high-risk procedure is forbidden from a certain
Safety-Related Rule Violations
point onward during the experiment. A decision
to carry out this (forbidden) procedure is a rule
violation (risk) to gain higher output and payment (reward) and is made by leaving out the
three additional safety steps to start up the plant
faster. Additionally, however, and these are the
second and third decisions, the operator can
decide to violate the substeps within a procedure as well. When the safety-related substeps
are violated, the plant enters a critical state of
system (risk) but can produce sooner and more
(reward). Violating the non-safety-related substeps involves no threat to the system’s stability
but allows some outcome optimization (reward).
As shown in Table 1, there are, for example,
certain flow rates to adjust (valves) and capacities (tanks) to keep in mind. Violations are also
possible if the operator does not stick to these
standards. At this point, the following basic consideration is crucial: Even if the rule is followed
by conducting the lower-risk procedure (in terms
of conducting 11 steps), a violation can still be
present if the standards of the substeps are violated. In Table 1, the compliance or violation of
rules and substeps is illustrated by checks or
crosses. For a clear conceptual differentiation,
we consider two kinds of compliance or violation, respectively: rule violations, which refers
to conducting the high-risk procedure or the
lower-risk procedure, and procedure violations,
meaning the decision whether or not to comply
with the given standards of each substep within
each procedure. As shown in Table 1, the combination results in eight different strategies. The
first four strategies (Table 1, vertical tags, left to
right) do not constitute any rule violations and
constitute only procedure violations (except for
the compliance strategy, which is, by definition,
a nonviolation). These procedure violations can
be placed in the safety-related segment of the
procedure, in the non-safety-related segment, or
in both to speed up the startup process. To be
highly productive, the rule must be violated.
When some procedural violations are added on
top, the productivity is raised to maximum.
These combinations of procedural and/or
rule-related violations imply an order in terms of
being distinct with regard to their quality (extent)
of violation. They range from total compliance
(both rule compliance and procedure c­ ompliance)
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to total violation (both rule violation and procedure violation, named here as “straight contravention”).
The Machine-Readable Criteria
For further investigation, every decision for
one of the eight strategies of every operator in
every week must be identified within the log
files provided by WaTrSim. The framework
depicted in Table 1 allows the deduction of
criteria that can be formulated in a machinereadable way. In total numbers, there are 152
operators (participants) who each decide 36
times per simulated production year. Accordingly, 5,472 decisions were made. Considering
that every startup consists of 180 states of each
of the 11 relevant plant sections, 10,843,560
pieces of data needed to be taken into account
for a proper characterization. This magnitude of
data enhances the likelihood of making some
errors (mistakes or lapses) if this analysis and
assignment were to be done by hand. Therefore, the following four rules were syntactically
implemented, each generating a true or false
statement.
Operationalized Dimensions of RuleRelated Behavior
To address the second aspect of the present
research, identifying different types of rulerelated behavior, the set of derived variables
(violation score, failure, and behavior shift) will
be operationalized in the following paragraphs.
Based on the eight qualitatively different
types of violation worked out earlier, the applied
strategies of each participant during each production week are coded from 0 to 7, corresponding to the increasing extent of violation. Thus,
compliance is coded 0 and straight contravention is coded 7. For the violation score, all 36
decisions of the participants are added together;
therefore, the score can range from 0 to 252. A
high violation score describes an increased tendency of rule-violating behavior. The acceptance of unsafe and risky actions brings with it
more violations and fine-tunings, both qualitatively and quantitatively. By contrast, a low violation score stands for cautiousness and rulecompliant behavior.
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As no information was available on the participants’ perception and outcome evaluation, an
artificial criterion was used to decide whether or
not a conducted strategy was successful. The
procedures (high-risk and lower-risk procedures) are linked to a predefined production outcome, to which the participants receive feedback
during the production phase. There are several
numerical and graphical depictions of the current and accumulated production outcome in the
user interface (Figure 1). By conducting the
lower-risk procedure, an output of 1,100 liters
can be expected, whereas applying the high-risk
procedure leads to 1,300 liters. These two benchmarks are used to determine whether a chosen
procedure was a success or a failure. The strategies coded from 0 to 3 (associated with the
lower-risk procedure; Table 1) are expected to
reach an output of 1,100 liters, and the strategies
coded from 4 to 7 (associated with the high-risk
procedure; Table 1) should enable the 1,300-liter
benchmark to be reached. If this benchmark is
not achieved, the respective week is noted as a
failure. Similar to the violation score, the number of failures is counted and can therefore range
from 0 to 36. If the failure characteristic is highly
manifested, the performance of the chosen strategy is unsuccessful, irrespective of whether it is
more violating or more compliant. On the other
hand, if the failure value is low, the performance
of the chosen strategy is successful in most
cases.
A change in the chosen strategy between two
successive startups is also given a numerical
expression. For example, if in Week 13 a classic
violation (coded 4) was conducted, and the following week an order reactance (coded 6) was
identified, the behavior shift amounts to 2. All
differences between the chosen strategies in successive weeks are added together and express
the magnitude of the overall behavior shift. This
characteristic describes whether the behavior
shown is variable (high) or stable (low). Based
on this definition, the identified clusters will first
be described, then interpreted and named.
Manipulation Check and PersonRelated Variables
To ensure the participants’ awareness and
acceptance of the simulation as a workplace, we
used the presence scale as a manipulation check.
As part of the study, a set of person-related variables was also assessed. These measurements
are used for a more detailed description and
interpretation of the targeted rule-related behavior types. The deployed scales are validated
against a rule violation questionnaire, which
describes 10 different rule-related everyday-life
dilemmas (e.g., “I’d rather risk being caught
speeding than be late to an important meeting”)
with a 4-point Likert scale from agree to disagree. For a more detailed description of these
scales and their theoretical and model-based
link to rule-related behavior, the investigation
by von der Heyde, Miebach, and Kluge (2014)
is recommended.
Presence describes the state in which acting
within the simulated world is experienced as a
feeling of “being” in the simulated world (Frank
& Kluge, 2014). It is measured by an 11-item
scale that is rated on a 6-point Likert scale from
1 (totally disagree) and 6 (totally agree). The
Cronbach’s α of the scale is .78.
Cautiousness describes a person’s tendency
to avoid risky situations. It is a subconstruct of
integrity (Marcus, 2006) within a measurement
for practice-oriented assessment concerning
counterproductive work behavior. The seven
items (e.g. “I am reasonable rather than adventure seeking”) are rated on a 5-point Likert scale.
The Cronbach’s α of the scale is .75.
Sensitivity toward injustice. This concept,
operationalized by Schmitt et al. (2004) is
divided into the victim’s perspective (being disadvantaged with respect to others), the observer’s perspective (not being involved but
recognizing that someone is being treated
unfairly), and the perpetrator’s perspective
(perceiving that one is being unjustifiably
advantaged). The nine items, rated on a 5-point
Likert scale, show a Cronbach’s α of .86.
Self-interest can be described as an action
that is “undertaken for the sole purpose of
achieving a personal benefit or benefits,” such
as tangible (e.g., money) or intangible (e.g.,
group status) benefits (Cropanzano, Goldman,
& Folger, 2005, p. 285). This concept is measured with five items rated on a 6-point Likert
scale. The Cronbach’s α is .83.
Safety-Related Rule Violations
The GMA was measured using the Wonderlic
Personnel Test (Wonderlic, 2002). This scale
assesses verbal, numerical, and spatial aspects
of intelligence. Participants had 12 min to process 50 items. All correct answers are summed
to form a total score of 50 points maximum.
The Cluster Analysis
The three factors of safety-related behavior
were tested for their dependence. A bivariate
correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation between behavior shift and violation
score (r = .44, p < .01) and between behavior
shift and failure (r = 26, p < .01). The characteristics violation score and failure were not significantly correlated. Due to the different scales
used to assess the characteristics, a z transformation was conducted.
To identify different types of rule-related
behavior, a hierarchical cluster analysis using
the complete linkage method was conducted
with IBM SPSS 19. This method is associated
with a strict homogeneity within the clustered
groups and tends to build up a row of small
groups (Schendera, 2010). It was chosen as its
properties correspond to the aim of this analysis.
Results
A first manipulation check was conducted to
ensure the participants’ acceptance of the simulation and their role as control room operator.
The participants’ presence is significantly higher
than the scale’s mean (range = 1–6; M = 3.35),
t(147) = 4.90, p < .001. An item-based analysis
showed significantly higher means for statements
such as “I felt that I was part of the simulation”
(M = 3.46), “I imagined that I was working in a
real environment” (M = 3.50), and “I was able to
assume the role of an operator” (M = 3.71).
To answer the first research question regarding
the quantities of potential possible strategies
(quality of violation), the choice rate for each
strategy was counted and is represented in the left
bar of each strategy in Figure 3. In terms of the
conducted procedure (high-risk procedure or
lower-risk procedure), 86.90% of all decisions
were made in favor of the mandatory lower-risk
procedure when summing up the applied strategies based on the lower-risk procedure (compliance, soft violation, defiant compliance, and
187
scrape violation). Decisions in favor of the forbidden high-risk procedure, on which the classic violation, optimizing violation, order reactance, and
straight contravention are based, were made in
only the remaining 13.10% of cases, or 717 times.
Comparing these data with the distribution of
critical system states that emerged, we find
within all of the 5,472 startups of the plant, a total
of 2,116 critical system states (38.67%) were
detected by the system. It should be recalled here
that a critical system state is originally directly
associated with conducting the forbidden highrisk procedure. Following the system approach
to violations, which describes and relates to only
the outcome of an action (or strategy), we find in
38.67% of all cases, a critical system state was
detected, which leads to the deduction that the
rule must have been violated and the forbidden
high-risk procedure was conducted in these
cases. The perceived amount of compliance
therefore decreases from 86.90% to 61.33%.
It was further analyzed how often a particular
type of operating procedure actually led to a critical system state. To underline the critical states
that were evoked particularly frequently, in
­Figure 3, the percentages of critical states caused
by conducting a respective strategy are depicted
by the right bars. As an example, the optimizing
violation was conducted in 0.3% of all decisions
(21 times). This strategy led to a critical system
state in 85.7% of all cases (18 times).
The cause for the critical system states
brought about by conducting one of the strategies within the range of the “safe”-proclaimed
lower-risk procedure is reflected in the number
of defiant compliance and scrape violations.
Both of these violation types caused a critical
system state in between 60% and 70% of cases.
When considering the frequency of application,
we find 68.90% of the total number of critical
system states were caused by conducting the
lower-risk procedure (in whichever variation).
On the other hand, 31.10% of all critical system
states were caused by conducting the forbidden
high-risk procedure.
These data answered the first question regarding the quantity of possible strategies. The conceptually derived strategies were found, and
therefore the assumption of an existing spectrum
of strategies between violation and compliance
is confirmed.
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June 2016 - Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
Figure 3. Rounded percentages of chosen strategy, depicted by the left bars, and the respective amount of
critical system state evoked by the respective strategy, depicted by the right bars.
The Behavior Typology
To answer the subsequent research question
of whether a behavior typology exists, a cluster
analysis was conducted including the dependent
variables violation score, failure, and behavior
shift.
A formal look at the data shows a noticeable
change in the cluster coefficient that is searched
for to decide the range in which cluster solutions
(number of clustered groups) should be considered. Hence, a prominent increase in the cluster
coefficient is found from the nine-cluster solution to the eight-cluster solution. Therefore, all
solutions from one (nonclustered) to eight clusters are considered for further analysis. To identify appropriate solutions, three parameters are
calculated for every cluster solution: explained
variance compared with the one-cluster solution
(ETA), proportional reduction of error compared
with the prior cluster solution (PRE), and the
corrected explained variance, which, if not corrected, otherwise automatically increases by rising number of clusters (Fmax). A formally
proper cluster solution should show ideally high
values within each of the three parameters.
Based on these formal parameters, three solutions with adequate properties (listed and highlighted in Table 2) are chosen for a content-based
analysis.
Table 2: List of Parameters With Formally
Appropriate Cluster Solutions in Bold
Cluster Solution
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
ETA η2
PRE
Fmax
.00
.01
.43
.46
.47
.63
.73
.75
.00
.01
.43
.05
.03
.30
.27
.07
0.00
1.44
56.34
41.92
33.12
50.21
66.01
62.34
Note. ETA = explained variance compared with the
one-cluster solution; PRE = proportional reduction of
error compared with the prior cluster solution; Fmax =
corrected explained variance.
A content-based view on the identified cluster
within each cluster solution indicated that the threecluster solution is not sufficiently nuanced to
describe different types of rule-related behavior.
Another possible solution suggested by the cluster
analysis, the seven-cluster solution, contains too
many cluster characteristics that resemble each
other. Therefore, it is assumed that the six-cluster
solution is the formally appropriate choice. A
­content-based look at the manifestations of the three
factors within the six cluster groups shows that two
Safety-Related Rule Violations
189
Figure 4. Manifestation of cluster characteristics. *p < .05. **p < .01.
of the cluster groups are characterized by the same
manifestations; hence, the participants in these two
clusters were assigned to a joined cluster group.
This inductive/deductive interplay considering the strengths and weaknesses of both purely
calculated and purely interpreted solutions
reveals five clusters with different manifestations of variables that are related to rule-related
behavior. These are presented and discussed
next. To interpret the identified manifestations
within each cluster, it is necessary to determine
how a manifested characteristic is to be read. For
this purpose, it is stipulated that there is only a
low/high reading of the data. It will not be considered how high, or how low, a manifestation
turns out to be. In other words, it counts only
whether the variable is higher (or lower) than the
mean within the nonclustered sample.
All of the five identified cluster groups exhibit
a unique constellation of manifested factors
(­Figure 4). The only manifested factor that does
not differ significantly from the nonclustered
mean is the behavior shift of Cluster 1, with an
almost significant value of p = .056. Any other
characteristic is significant, as marked in Figure 4.
Further analysis of the person-related variables ascertained is taken into account to identify further characteristics of the types of rulerelated behavior (Figure 5). To depict their manifestations within each cluster comparable
within a single figure, the values are z standardized due to their different range.
A one-way ANOVA showed no significant differences between the clustered groups for presence, F(4, 148) = 0.49, p = .74; cautiousness, F(4,
143) = 0.49, p = .74; sensitivity toward injustice,
F(4, 143) = 1.68, p = .16; and age, F(4, 151) = 0.82,
p = .51. For two of the person-related variables, a
significant difference between the clusters can be
seen. The first is self-interest, F(4, 143) = 2.96,
p = .02, and the other is GMA, F(4, 151) = 3.72,
p < .01. To gain a deeper insight into the different
characteristics between the current clusters, a post
hoc analysis (LSD) was also conducted. In Table 3,
the mean differences are listed for self-interest in
the upper-right part and for GMA in the lower-left
part. For the mean differences to be read properly,
the left column of Table 3 is to be compared with
the heading row (e.g., the mean of Cluster 5
within GMA is, at 7.05, significantly higher than
in Cluster 1. If read in the other direction, the
algebraic sign changes from plus to minus and
vice versa).
Cluster 1 (15%). Within this cluster, there is a
low tendency to violate rules, and there is little
change within this behavior. At the same time,
however, participants in this cluster are very ineffective and fail to reach the demanded targets. Following a given rule is a good thing, but participants
were not able to fulfill the production goals, and
there was no effort to adjust their behavior despite
the obvious failure. Therefore, the name the executor is chosen. These individuals merely do as
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June 2016 - Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
Figure 5. Standardized values for general mental ability and self-interest within each cluster.
Table 3: Mean Differences Between Clusters Within Self-Interest (Upper Right) and General Mental
Ability (Lower Left)
Cluster 1
Cluster 1
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Cluster 5
—
3.26*
3.95*
1.10
7.05**
Cluster 2
Cluster 3
Cluster 4
Cluster 5
–0.59*
—
0.69
–2.19
3.80*
0.04
0.64**
—
–2.88
3.10
–0.31
0.28
–0.36
—
5.98*
–0.07
0.52*
–0.12
0.24
—
*p < .05. **p < .01.
they are told and continue to do so even if they are
ineffective. It is debatable whether the cause of
this behavior can be found in the comparatively
low GMA. Although this low score would explain
the high failure values, the similarly low values
for self-interest suggest a low need for change,
because the negative effects of insufficient productivity are not personally relevant.
Cluster 2 (29%). In this group, there is a
very high and stable tendency to violate rules.
This behavior is quite reasonable, because these
people are successful when breaking the rules.
Therefore, they are called the inconvincible, due
to the mantra “Never change a running system.”
A further indicator for this interpretation is the
very high value for self-interest.
Cluster 3 (36%). At first glance, the people
in this cluster might be seen as the “best
behaved.” These individuals follow and never
deviate from orders and are good at doing so.
For this reason, they will be described as the
well behaved. Even if the given rule is not the
best one possible, they will not stray from these
boundaries and will remain within the limitations of the rules and handle the situation in the
best way possible. They constitute the largest
group. Their GMA is a little higher than the
average, but more interesting is that their value
for self-interest is the lowest of all of the groups.
They intentionally support the rule-following
behavior. Obviously, there is no need to optimize the outcome to their own advantage.
Cluster 4 (7%). In this rule-related behavior, a
high tendency for violation is paired with a high
rate of alteration within the behavior. Furthermore,
the behavior shown is characterized by failure.
There are conflicting possible interpretations for
this behavior. First, consequences might be simply
ignored, and individuals within this cluster might
merely be searching for the best possible way to
gain as much personal profit as possible (promised by violating the rule). Second, the highly variable behavior might be an indication of the attempt
to compensate for the failure and the associated
Safety-Related Rule Violations
financial loss. The key to interpreting this behavior is the violation score. If they had tried to find
a way to compensate for the failure, they would
not continuously violate the rule but would also
try the mandatory and safe rule. Hence, it can be
determined that the first interpretation is the most
accurate for this cluster, and it is titled the experimenter, who undergoes a high risk. There are
only two clusters with an above-average manifestation of the self-interest variable, and this one is
the second. This finding underlines the preferred
interpretation.
Cluster 5 (13%). The final cluster is characterized by an above-average tendency to violate
the rule, with a high behavior shift. This behavior
is accompanied by a successful performance of
the chosen strategy. This group of individuals is
called the optimizer. These people are not afraid
to bend or break the rule in their search for the
best way to execute their task within the boundaries of success. This characterization is supported
by incorporating the person-related variables.
The optimizing strategy appears to require a high
GMA to achieve success. This cluster shows the
highest value in GMA. The performance of these
persons can be seen as quite separate from any
deliberations concerning rules. The tendency to
violate due to self-interest is not highly pronounced. Only the outcome seems to be crucial
for any behavioral decision.
Discussion
The purpose of the study was first to identify
different strategies of rule-related behavior and
subsequently to derive a typology of rule-related
behavior. The findings show positive results in
both exploratory attempts. The approach of differentiating the understanding of compliance
and violation revealed a spectrum of strategies
that differ in their extent of violation of safety
rules and procedures. Based on the discussion
regarding whether a system or person approach
to rule-related behavior should be followed, the
identified typology shed light on the potential
of an approach that combines both perspectives. The following paragraphs will discuss
the study’s methodological issues and internal
and external validity, necessary for interpreting
the multifaceted results, and will conclude with
191
implications for practitioners and perspectives
for future research.
Methodological Issues
The fact that the data originate from a laboratory simulation study rather than field observations is due to the investigated topic of safetyrelated rules. Altering conditions or manipulating objects of interest would be neither legally
nor ethically feasible. Indeed, such a manipulation would not be acceptable because, as outlined earlier, the consequences of rule violation
can include severe accidents, involving fatalities
and momentous environmental damage. The
addressed industrial accidents are mainly caused
by circumstances ascribed to goal conflicts. To
induce this conflict in an experimental setting,
we used the participants’ payment. Getting the
job done and being paid for production outcome
is, at some level, a monetary matter. Although
real-world settings are more complex, the operationalization of goal conflict was deployed in
the best way possible.
A great deal of effort was undertaken to
design an experimental setting with the highest
possible external and internal validity. WaTrSim
was developed by experts in automation engineering at the Technical University of Dresden,
Germany, and serves as a realistic model of an
actual real-world plant simulating states, dynamics, and interdependences of plant sections and
working substances. In terms of Gray’s (2002)
description of simulated task environments,
WaTrSim can be labeled as a high-fidelity simulation. Gray argues that fidelity is relative to the
research question being asked. In contrast, the
software does not show characteristics that are
perceived and therefore treated as a video game.
Assessing WaTrSim in terms of playfulness, we
find it does not meet the necessary motives
defined by Unger, Goossens, and Becker (2015),
who catalog motives for exchange, leadership,
handling, competition, acquisition, and experience. Solely the motive for problem solving can
be assigned to the simulation.
Furthermore, researchers investigating the
ability of simulation studies to derive reliable
results (Alison et al., 2013; Stone-Romero,
2011; Thibaut, Friedland, & Walker, 1974;
Weick, 1965) have argued that results from
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June 2016 - Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
s­imulations with high internal validity demonstrate their applicability in the practical field.
More specifically, Kessler and Vesterlund (2014)
argue that the focus should be on qualitative
experimental validity rather than on quantitative
validity. In other words, “the emphasis in laboratory studies is to identify the direction rather
than the precise magnitude of an effect” (Kessler
& Vesterlund, 2014, p. 3). Our assumption of
labeling every rule deviance as a violation will
be discussed according to this aspect. To prevent
errors, participants’ procedural and declarative
knowledge was ensured. They were trained
twice and handled the plant 22 times before the
relevant part of the study occurred. The subsequent 36 performance occasions may also contain some errors, but owing to the preparations
we made, we assume that they do not distort the
results. Although the specific magnitude might
be affected, neither the structure nor the direction should be influenced. Considering the
assessed knowledge and attained outcome, it can
be assumed that the participants were very well
adapted.
A satisfactory degree of internal validity can
be assumed, partially due to the methodological
procedure of identifying clusters. The differences within the dependent variables are the
only indicator for building up the cluster. Conversely, the independent variables (cluster affiliation) can be stated as the only known origin of
differences in the dependent variables. Moreover, the content-based analysis of the clusters’
characteristics, which are the manifestations of
the dependent variables, with regard to the person-related variables self-interest and GMA,
indicates that internal validity is given. Common
threats, such as history, maturation, or changes
in the measurement tool, cannot be assumed due
to the short period of observation. The aspect of
reactivity, caused particularly by the induced
goal conflict, is detected and controlled for by
the dependent variables. As participants’ reactions to the exploratory setting are desired, the
extent of reactivity is at least partially depicted
in the assignment to the respective cluster
groups. Indications of satisfactory external
validity can be seen in the participants’ presence
regarding their perception and handling of the
simulation situation. It can be sufficiently
assumed that participants were working as they
would in a real environment and were acting like
actual control room operators; thus, the following deductions are permissible.
Key Findings
At first glance, the vast amount of safetycritical operations made by the participants
might be unexpected and may call into question
the realistic image of behavior provided in the
study. However, based on investigation reports
dealing with accidents on production plants, it
sadly has to be concluded that this study does
properly depict the circumstances in many
work environments. A state of “normalization
of deviance” and decreasing safety culture give
workers the impression of acting appropriately,
although any objective observation would note
the opposite (CSB, 2015).
One very important lesson that can be gleaned
from the present study is that it is necessary to
differentiate between rule violations and procedure violations. In many industrial work settings, there are not just rules to follow but also
procedures required by the rules. This situation
makes it possible to violate the procedure to a
certain extent, corresponding to the extent to
which the procedure is neglected. If some safety
rules are added, the range of the quality of violations is widened, because the procedure now
contains safety and non-safety-related substeps.
Drawing from these conclusions, we contend
that the investigation of violations should incorporate to what part of a rule or procedure the
behavior is related.
The most interesting strategies of the spectrum of rule-related behavior are defiant compliance and scrape violation. In describing the conceptually possible strategies, these two are characterized as an attempt to compensate for the
disadvantages of the extended procedure as well
as to optimize the outcome. This finding led to
the assumption that most people try to comply
with the rule on the one hand but attempt to
avoid the personal disadvantages by optimizing
the procedure within the boundaries of the given
rules on the other hand. Referring to Reason’s
(2008) Swiss cheese model, the goal conflict,
created by the management, can be seen as a
latent factor that weakens the defense layers on
Safety-Related Rule Violations
the organizational level. The operator’s tendency to optimize the procedure weakens the
defense layer at the sharp end, bringing the system into a critical state and making accidents
more likely. This assumption can be confirmed
by our results. This so-called fine-tuning of the
procedures was found in 64.2% of all conducted
startups and led to a critical system state in 60%
to 70% of cases. Similar to these results, for
Russian nuclear power plants, the percentage of
violations as cause for operating errors is estimated at 68.8% for 2009, followed by mistakes
(20.8%) and slips and lapses (10.4%; Smetnik,
2015). These huge figures demonstrate the risk
inherent in this endeavor by the operators to
avoid disadvantages and point out the importance of the person approach. Only by considering the actual actions of operators can the factual
mechanisms leading to the corresponding consequences be discovered, analyzed, and dealt with.
Although the rule was violated in terms of
conducting the high-risk procedure in only 14%
of all cases, the hazard of this violation should
not be underrated. On the contrary, analysis
revealed that conducting this strategy led to a
probability of between 80% and 99.6% of a critical system state occurring. Even if the frequency is far lower than the frequency of rule
compliance, the inherent risk for the system and
the workers is incredibly high.
With respect to the resulting clusters, it can be
noted that there is no highly manifested behavior
shift value if the violation score is low. This
finding leads to the general conclusion that if
rules are followed (low violation score), there is
no behavioral adaptation and no actual change in
applied strategies, irrespective of the amount of
success or failure. Additionally, in both the clusters concerned (1 and 3), the value of self-interest is quite low compared with the values of the
cluster with a high violation score. Therefore, it
can be concluded that subjects with a low tendency to violate safety rules are simultaneously
not very selfish. They will not adapt their behavior or strategies even for their own sake, to save
themselves from failing to reach production targets. One important difference between the rulecompliant clusters must be taken into account:
They score differently with respect to GMA.
The clusters with high failure values score low
193
on GMA, as does Cluster 4, with the high violation score. Accordingly, it can be stated that a
successful execution of a complex task requires
some cognitive ability.
It is difficult to make further interpretations
of the interplay between the person-related variables and the manifested values defining the
clusters due to the questionable correlative relationship between failure and behavior shift.
There is not necessarily a causal flow of failure
leading to a change in behavior. A greater variety
in behavior can also lead to reduced success, as
an operator may be used to changing actions
only within a small range and may therefore be
inexperienced in applying certain strategies.
The most valuable result to be derived from
the identified clusters is the unjust disparagement
of the violator in general. The types of rulerelated behavior that are found based on the common understanding of compliance and violation
in the human error literature are the well behaved
and the experimenter. However, there is also
compliant behavior that is counterproductive and
a violating cluster that potentially improves the
process, namely, the optimizer. This result underlines Besnard and Greathead’s (2003) argument
stressing the beneficial aspect of violating behavior. The proactive behavior provided by the optimizer is crucial for optimizing industrial processes, also in the sense of safety enhancement
(Li, Powell, & Horberry, 2012). Although supporting the organizational production goals is
generally desirable, this motivation might lead to
the side effect that the optimizer’s positive intent
to improve procedure in the short term leads to
habitual fine-tuning with safety risks for the
organization in the long term.
Beyond this finding, Besnard and Greathead’s
(2003) approach to safe violations, which takes
into account mental resources to gain a mental
model, is reflected by the differences between
the clusters referring to GMA. This finding
emphasizes the necessity for a differentiated
view on rule-related behavior that goes beyond
the black-and-white compliance-versus-­violation
perspective. The typology-like characterization
by Hudson et al. (2000) made a step in this direction, implementing not only the apparent event
but also the attitude toward violating, in their
two-dimensional description. They also took a
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June 2016 - Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making
further step by thinking in terms of natural-born
violators. The results of our work suggest the
need for a more differentiated view of traits and
give an impression of an interplay between organizational causes (goal conflicts), situational factors (failure or success), and personal factors
(mental resources and self-interest).
Implications for Further Research
In order to justify the applied variables (violation score, failure, and behavior shift), it was
necessary to incorporate different approaches,
particularly as there is no model to describe and
predict behavior in a routine task. To achieve
this goal, it is required to formulate a theory that
joins together different approaches, purposes,
and perspectives or, as called for by Locke and
Latham (2004), to “integrate extant theories by
using existing meta-analysis to build a megatheory of work motivation.” (p. 388). The result
should and would be a process model combining the findings, assumptions, and conclusions of decades of research on human action.
The theories and models that were drawn on
to identify rule-related behaviors within the
present work are suitable to be merged in this
sense. Further investigations need to clarify the
correlative relationship between behavior shift
and failure. Two ways of interaction can be
assumed: Owing to high behavioral variability,
the learning effect is quite low, so the failure rate
rises. Alternatively, due to being unsuccessful,
the participants tried to vary their strategies.
There are also some differences in results if
the system approach or the person approach is
followed, as the descriptive results of committed
violations demonstrate. The number of rule violations was overestimated by taking only the
outcome of the operator’s action into account,
which represents the system approach to evaluate the operator’s behavior. By taking into
account the person approach, the hazardous but
also potentially beneficial (process-optimizing)
qualities of different strategies were revealed. It
would be worthwhile to pursue and investigate
this approach in order to extend our knowledge
about roots and causes of behaviors and events.
Suggestions for further research can also be
found in a study referring to the counterproductive impact of audits on the tendency to violate
rules (von der Heyde, Brandhorst, & Kluge,
2015). The study focused on the bomb crater
effect, which describes a generally increased
tendency to violate rules directly after an executed audit. Regarding the typology, it would be
interesting to investigate how the different types
act in the sense of the bomb crater effect.
It would also be advisable for future studies
to validate the clusters’ structure, both in experimental studies and in field observations.
Implications for Practice
One of the most important aspects of this
work is the variety of strategies detected and
the resulting types of rule-related behavior. The
described types of violating behavior are particularly important in terms of deciding whether
or not they should be prevented or promoted.
The identified optimizers can have a beneficial
impact on an organization’s productivity and
can be mistakenly excluded due to misinterpretations of violating behavior. Knowledge
on how to identify, support, and integrate them
properly would harbor the potential for commercial advantage.
The present work provides first indications
leading to a cautious recommendation to elaborate on two key aspects. The perspective on
workers’ results can be viewed in different ways,
the discussed system- or action-oriented perspective. Merging these can lead to the detection
of hitherto unknown, but nevertheless relevant,
nuances of work behavior. Designing a method
that gathers the required information and data
can foster the understanding and examination of
applied strategies. Based on this method, information that supports human resource policy can
be generated.
Besides staff assessment and derivation of
task requirements, a redesign of audits, notably,
safety audits, is suggested. As outlined earlier, a
system-oriented perspective can be fragmentary
and in some cases even unjust. The aforementioned overestimated number of rule violations
and associated fines (as an organizational reaction to rule violation) involves stress and dissatisfaction and may result in complaints or even
fluctuation. An alternative approach to safety
audits would incorporate a sensible balance of
system and person analyses, with the aims of (a)
Safety-Related Rule Violations
understanding local rationalities and developing
guidelines and training for improved performance and (b) preventing negative effects of
unjustified fines and imposed sanctions.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the German Research
Foundation under Grant KL2207/2-1.
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Sebastian Brandhorst is a PhD student at the department of Work, Organizational, and Business Psychology at Ruhr University Bochum. He holds a
master of science in applied cognitive and media
science. His research focuses on the impact of organizational and individual factors on safety-related
rule violations in high-reliability organizations.
Annette Kluge is a full professor for Work, Organizational, and Business Psychology at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. She obtained her diploma in
work and organizational psychology at the Technical
University Aachen and her doctorate in ergonomics
and vocational training at the University of Kassel,
Germany, in 1994. Her expertise is in human factors
and ergonomics, training science, skill acquisition
and retention, safety management, and organizational learning from errors.
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