Operators’ risk awareness towards operations’ risk assessment: a field study in the motor vehicle field

Purpose: The purpose of the research was to verify if there was an alignment between the risk assessed and the risk perceived or if some inconsistencies arise that could affect the safety of the operators. In fact, eventual inconsistencies should be analysed, interpreted and managed to maximise the information and training process, if needed. Design/methodology/approach: The adopted approach in this work relies on the collection of the perception of the operators about the level of risk in a work environment and its comparison with the level of risk assessed by the company. The collection of data was performed through a survey designed ad hoc, subministrated to all the workers in the area under study, being them involved in the production and in the maintenance. The survey’s structure and aim were described to the operator by the researchers and returned by the operators in a voluntary and anonymous way. Findings: The information collected allowed identifying a gap between the risk assessed and the risk perceived by the plant operators. For example, for the use of personal protective equipments, the data highlighted a discrepancy between the knowledge about their need and the behaviour in using them, which resulted in the revision of both communication and training processes, with the adoption of a more participatory approach. Originality/value: The originality of the work is in the data set, originally collected for this study, in the data collection form, also devised specifically for the case under study, despite it can be easily adapted for other work environment, and in the purpose itself, aimed at pushing risk assessment towards a personalised and adaptive approach.