Top Tip Tuesday - Societal Risk

S – SOCIETAL RISK 

Some of you may not of heard this terminology before, or perhaps it was called something else. One perception of societal risk is an individual’s view on something dangerous which is dependent on the environment they are in.

Example 1

If you opened the door of your refrigerator, would it comply with food hygiene regulations? Most people would confirm it doesn’t comply but seem to be happy to accept it. Yet, you wouldn’t accept it within a restaurant.

Example 2

People that have the ‘5-second rule’ at home. i.e., if you drop food on the floor in your kitchen, is it acceptable to pick this up within 5-seconds and place it onto a plate ready to consume? Again, would this be accepted in a restaurant where the chef drops food on the floor and picks it up within a few seconds and places it onto your plate?

These are both rhetorical questions, but you get the idea.

There are multiple examples of individuals that are happy to take unnecessary risk away from the workplace (DIY, garden work, maintenance) but once they are within the working environment, they change their approach and their attitude changes. We can play the role of gamekeeper and quickly change to a poacher when our perception of risk or working environment changes.

What can you do?

It’s difficult to have one solution for this as it is very much based on individual attitude. The best way is to hold discussions within meetings or through toolbox talk delivery on this subject. Like most things, having an open conversation and educating people increases the chance of influencing behaviour. This is the starting point to getting individuals thinking about what they do and also having an appreciation of how difficult it is for the employer at times.

Need more help on this? Contact us as we are happy to advise and guide you.