The slogan is very long

Safety information is one of the important resources on which safety activities depend, and it is a form that reflects the differences and changes between human safety things and safety activities. Safety management is managed with a large amount of safety information, and its modernization level determines the application degree of information science and technology in safety management [1]. Safety information communication means that people who know safety risks provide information to those who need to know, especially front-line employees.

Communication failure is the main human error leading to the accident [2]. Many safety accidents are caused by the lack of effective safety information communication, such as:

In 2003, a blowout accident occurred in Kaixian County, Chongqing [3]. Before the accident, a series of hidden danger information was not paid attention to, reported to the superior, and effective measures were not taken, which led to the occurrence and expansion of the accident.

Since the first half of 2008, according to incomplete statistics, there have been seven production safety accidents in China that caused casualties due to improper rescue or blind rescue. From the initial 7 people were killed, 29 people were killed and 14 people were injured, the lessons were extremely profound [4]. In these incidents, many employees lack basic safety knowledge, have not received safety training and know nothing about safety knowledge.

In the investigation report of the explosion accident of BP Texas Refinery on March 23rd, 2005 [5], the American Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Committee found that there were many problems in the safety information communication of BP Texas Refinery, including insufficient communication of equipment status information during shift change, insufficient communication between equipment operators and lack of policies to encourage effective communication in enterprises, which were the reasons for the accident.

Similarly, the failure of information communication was also one of the reasons for the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003 [6].

The deep-seated causes of the above accidents are the defects of enterprise safety management and bad safety culture.

Many enterprises have realized the importance of safety culture to enterprise safety management and accident prevention, and have carried out safety culture construction activities in succession. However, the construction of safety culture is single, and basically depends on the publicity and education of safety management departments. The communication channel of safety information and safety knowledge is only one-way transmission from top to bottom, without the attention and participation of senior leaders of enterprises and employees. Therefore, the effect of enterprise safety culture construction is not obvious.

In the traditional safety management mode, the communication channel of safety information is also one-way, and most of them are transmitted from top to bottom, lacking a bottom-up safety information feedback channel. The management makes all kinds of safety rules and regulations, and front-line employees only passively implement them. They think that security affairs are only the affairs of the security management department and have nothing to do with themselves. Even if hidden danger information or attempted events are found, few people take the initiative to report them. The exchange of safety information must be shared with each other, and it must be two-way, in order to effectively play its functions.

The construction of enterprise safety culture needs the joint efforts and innovation of all employees, the effective leadership and commitment of senior managers and the active participation of employees. The link between them is the effective communication of safety information.

The author analyzes the significance of effective communication of safety information to enterprise safety culture construction and safety management, and analyzes the factors and mechanisms of internal and external safety information communication, and puts forward countermeasures and measures to improve and enhance effective communication of safety information, hoping to help enterprise safety culture construction.

The importance of effective communication

Jones believes that effective communication is very important for enterprise managers and all employees. Effective communication can improve production efficiency, improve product quality, promote enterprise innovation and enhance the competitive advantage of enterprises [7]. Baker regards communication as the lifeline of an organization, which conveys the development direction, expectations, processes, products and attitudes of the organization [8]. Good communication helps to promote a harmonious atmosphere and team spirit, establish a good relationship between management and employees, effectively handle internal conflicts and complaints, and ease the work pressure of employees. Effective communication is more important for enterprise safety management. Through on-site communication with experienced employees, managers can know the on-site safety information, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of enterprise safety decision-making and problem solving. At the same time, employees can clarify their own safety responsibilities, improve their safety awareness and promote their interest in participating in safety affairs management through communication with management.

1. 1 legal requirements and occupational health and safety standards requirements

In view of the importance of safety information to safety production, the relevant safety regulations and standards in many countries stipulate that enterprises should exchange safety information with employees.

For example, Article 36 of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Work Safety states that production and business operation entities shall truthfully inform employees of the risk factors, preventive measures and emergency measures in workplaces and posts; At the same time, article 45 points out that employees of production and business operation entities have the right to know the risk factors, preventive measures and emergency measures of their workplaces and posts, and have the right to make suggestions on the work safety of their own units.

Labor Safety and Health Act (Health &; The Work Safety Act (1974) requires employers to negotiate with employees on occupational health and safety.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (199 1) promulgated by the Commonwealth of Australia requires employers to provide necessary information, guidance, supervision and training to ensure that employees work in a safe manner without affecting their health. The occupational health and safety laws of Australian states have similar provisions.

Section 4.4.3 of Chinese national standard GB/T 2800 1-2000 "Occupational Health and Safety Management System Specification" is entitled "Consultation and Communication", which requires organizations to have procedures to ensure mutual communication with employees and other interested parties on relevant occupational health and safety information. Australia/New Zealand occupational health and safety standards AS/NZS 4804: 200 1 and ILO-OSH 200 1 Guidelines for Occupational Safety and Health Management System have similar requirements.

1.2 the role of effective communication in the construction of safety culture

In order to solve the problem of human error in production, the Nuclear Safety Advisory Group (INSAG) of the International Atomic Energy Agency put forward the concept of "safety culture in nuclear power industry" for the first time in 1986, and defined it as: it is the synthesis of various characteristics and attitudes existing in units and individuals [9]. Since then, different scholars at home and abroad have given many definitions of safety culture, among which the most widely used is the definition given by the Nuclear Facilities Safety Advisory Committee (HSE:ACSNI) of the British Health and Safety Committee: the safety culture of an organization is a comprehensive product of individual and collective values, attitudes, abilities and behaviors, which determines the commitment, working methods and proficiency of health and safety management. Organizations with good safety culture have the following characteristics: information exchange based on mutual trust; * * Understanding of the importance of safety and confidence in the effectiveness of preventive measures [10]. From the above definition of safety culture, we can see that effective communication is the characteristic of a good safety culture and an important way to build it.

Many institutions and scholars have done a lot of research on the role of effective communication in safety culture. Glendon and Mckenna believe that effective communication is the characteristic of an organization with a positive safety culture. The basis of effective communication is mutual trust and everyone thinks safety is very important [1 1]. The Health and Safety Executive Committee of the United Kingdom believes that communication is one of the four "C's" of a positive safety culture, and the other three "C's" are ability, control and cooperation [12]. Cooper believes that organizations with positive safety culture have a good safety communication system, and safety information is transmitted between organizations through two-way formal and informal communication channels [13].

Williams believes that one of the most effective ways to promote the construction of safety culture and prevent injuries is to optimize safety communication [14].

Reason believes that a good safety culture needs a perfect system to collect, analyze and disseminate enterprise safety information, and form an informed culture, and the formation of information culture needs the support of reporting culture and learning culture [15].

Vecchio-Sadus believes that an effective communication mechanism is very important for encouraging employees to participate in safety affairs, obtaining employees' cooperation and support, and maintaining a positive safety culture [16].

2 the way and content of safety information communication

The communication process includes information transmission stage and information feedback stage. In the information transmission stage, information is shared between two or more individuals or groups; In the information feedback stage, ensure that the information is effectively understood by the receiver, as shown in the following figure [7].

As can be seen from the figure, effective communication should be two-way, including not only information transmission, but also information feedback. If the information receiver does not respond to the information, there is no communication channel, but only information transmission.

There are usually four ways to communicate information: oral communication, written communication, visual communication and non-verbal communication.

Oral communication is the simplest, most direct and most timely feedback method. Oral communication can be conducted by telephone, walkie-talkie and video. Of course, the most effective way is face-to-face communication. When managers and employees talk face to face, they can exchange information not only through language, but also through facial expressions and body language of both sides. The content conveyed at this time is also the richest. Therefore, it is very important for management to communicate face-to-face with front-line employees when conducting safety inspections.

Written words can be saved, which is convenient for future inquiry and more formal. Therefore, all safety policies and operating procedures of the enterprise are communicated to employees through written communication. However, written communication also has some disadvantages, such as uncertain recipients, too long sentences and too many terms in the text.

Visual communication refers to the use of colors, symbols, graphics and other ways to convey information. In safety management, visual communication is widely used, such as safety slogans, safety posters, safety colors, safety warning signs and safety publicity videos.

In safety management, nonverbal communication is very important, for example, the safety behavior of enterprise managers has a demonstration effect on the safety behavior of enterprise employees.

Enterprise safety information communication includes internal safety information communication and external safety information communication.

2. 1 Internal safety information communication

In the enterprise safety management, the enterprise's safety production rules and regulations and operating procedures should be communicated to each employee through top-down communication channels, while all kinds of accident information and hidden danger information on the spot are communicated to the top management of the enterprise through bottom-up communication channels; In addition, safety information should also be transmitted between and within different departments of the enterprise through horizontal communication channels. The usual internal communication methods include: safety reports, safety committee meetings, pre-shift meetings, group safety meetings, emails, documents, safety manuals, videos, publicity pictures, publicity boards, safety signs, etc.

2. 1. 1 Visible safety commitment of enterprise management

The safety commitment of enterprise managers is the key element of building a safety culture, which determines the views and behaviors of other employees on safety [14]. The enterprise's attention to safety can be reflected to employees through the visible safety commitment of enterprise managers. Managers should strictly abide by the various safety management systems of enterprises and play an exemplary role in safety behavior. Employees can judge the importance of safety management by managers' behavior, and then change their own behavior. Managers show their commitment to safety by taking safety as the primary topic at high-level meetings of enterprises, attending regular safety inspections, attending regular meetings of safety committees, and actively participating in accident investigation. In addition, expanding the communication channels of safety information, encouraging employees to participate in discussing safety issues, listening carefully to employees' suggestions, and feeding back information to employees in time are all manifestations of managers' safety commitment.

2. 1.2 Safety responsibilities of personnel at all levels in enterprises

Enterprise safety management needs the joint efforts of all employees. Therefore, it is very important to clarify the safety responsibility of each employee (from top management to ordinary employees) and make all personnel know their respective responsibilities. When employees clearly know their responsibilities in accident prevention, they will show great interest in maintaining a healthy and safe working environment, but first the management should inform them of the risks at work and encourage employees to participate in safety affairs to reduce the risks [17].

2. 1.3 safety education and training

Safety education and training play a very important role in the field of safety activities. Through safety education and training, people's understanding of safety and attitudes towards safety activities and things can be formed and changed, so that people's behavior can better meet the safety norms and requirements of social life and enterprise production [1]. The Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on Work Safety has clear requirements for the safety education and training of enterprise leaders, safety managers, employees and special operators. Safety education and training is an important way to exchange safety information, and in safety education and training, effective communication is an important guarantee to achieve good training results.

The effect of safety education and training carried out by some enterprises and institutions is not ideal. One of the reasons is the lack of effective communication between safety education and training. Classroom teaching makes the training teachers and students lack communication, and teachers have no way of knowing whether the students have really mastered the knowledge and skills they have learned. Various media, including audio, video, pictures and cases, can be used to enhance students' interest and increase practical courses; Increasing teacher-student interaction in the process of education and training is also a way to improve the training effect.

2. 1.4 Report and investigation of accidents and hidden dangers

Accident and hidden danger report is an important way to transmit enterprise safety information from bottom to top, and it is also the basic form for employees to participate in enterprise safety affairs. Enterprises should establish accident and hidden danger reporting system, and make it clear that accident reporting is the responsibility and obligation of employees. Many employees are reluctant to report accidents, especially some near misses, for fear of being punished, and the information of near misses and hidden dangers is very important to prevent major accidents. Therefore, measures should be taken to encourage employees to report accidents, near misses and hidden dangers, and a reporting culture should be formed [15].

One of the measures is to establish an anonymous reporting channel, which can set up a reporting box or other forms to encourage employees to report various accidents and hidden dangers, and put forward some suggestions and opinions on health and safety. Managers must pay attention to these reports and suggestions and give timely feedback. In addition, in the accident investigation, we should follow the principle of not blaming the parties, and its purpose is to help employees report all kinds of accidents and hidden dangers in time. The results of accident investigation should be announced to employees in time, especially the root cause of the accident, and employees should be encouraged to put forward improvement measures to prevent the accident from happening again. These measures will show the management's commitment to safety and form a learning culture [15] to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

At the same time, the accident information should be transmitted to other departments in time to remind them to take measures to prevent such accidents; This department should always pay attention to the safety information of other departments, which is especially important for large enterprises with production departments in different regions. Many multinational companies have a system called security alarm to share security information and prevent accidents in one area from happening again in other areas.

2. 1.5 safety meeting

Safety meeting is an important way to convey safety information. The main purpose of safety meeting is to transmit safety information, negotiate safety countermeasures and motivate personnel, which will affect the production activities of participants after the meeting. Safety meetings can be large meetings of all employees, or just discussions between managers and individual employees; Security meetings can be formal or informal. At the daily pre-shift meeting, the team leader takes a few minutes to emphasize the importance of safety, which plays a very important role in changing the attitude of employees and preventing accidents.

2.2 Enterprise external security information communication

The safe communication between enterprises and the outside world will also have a great impact on the safe production of enterprises. According to the law, enterprises need to report accident information and occupational disease information to law enforcement agencies in time. In addition, enterprises need to keep information flowing with superior management departments, relevant emergency rescue units, units around enterprises and residents during emergency rescue. Enterprises also need to contact the safety production supervision and management departments frequently to obtain the latest safety production information and updates of relevant laws and regulations, so as to adjust the safety management system of enterprises in time according to relevant requirements. Enterprises also need to communicate safety information with contractors, suppliers and customers frequently.

Updating of regulations and standards

All activities of enterprises must comply with relevant laws and regulations, and relevant safety standards are the basis for enterprises to formulate various operating procedures and work guidelines. Therefore, enterprises should establish and maintain corresponding procedures to identify and obtain laws, regulations and related standards applicable to their own enterprises. Enterprises should also update relevant laws, regulations and other required information in a timely manner, and convey these information to employees [18]. The most convenient way to obtain regulations and standards is through the website of the safety supervision department. At the same time, you can often browse relevant websites and get a lot of safety information.

2.2.2 Communicate safety information with contractors, suppliers and customers.

In production activities, enterprises often need to hire contractors to engage in some activities. It is very important to ensure the safety of contractors and their employees engaged in related activities in this enterprise. Therefore, it is necessary to communicate safety information with the contractor. On the one hand, it is necessary to train the safety of the contractor's employees; When selecting contractors, it is more important to regard safety as a clear and important standard.

When purchasing machinery, equipment and raw materials, enterprises should not only consider the quality of products, but also evaluate the impact of products on the safety production of enterprises, especially some special equipment and dangerous chemicals. First of all, we must confirm the relevant qualifications of the manufacturer. In addition to providing products, manufacturers also need to provide corresponding guidance information, and it is best to train employees so that enterprises can use these equipment and materials safely. Accordingly, the products provided by enterprises to customers should also provide corresponding safety information services.

Three Factors Affecting Effective Communication

Effective communication depends on the information receiver correctly receiving the information and correctly understanding the intention of the information sender. A complete communication process includes many links (as shown in the schematic diagram of communication process), and mistakes in each link may lead to communication failure. The following table lists the possible errors in each communication link and their reasons.

What is listed above is the communication failure caused by the mistakes of all links in the communication process. Factors that affect effective communication also include personal factors and organizational factors. Yu Shiwei believes that there are 65,438+00 communication barriers, which can be divided into the following two categories:

1) obstacles between people are called personal obstacles, including: ① differences in status; (2) information credibility; ③ Cognitive bias; 4 past experience; ⑤ Emotional influence.

2) The obstacles between companies are called organizational obstacles, which include: ① information flooding; ② Time pressure; ③ Organizational atmosphere; ④ information filtering; ⑤ Information feedback.

There are three ways to overcome obstacles, namely, using feedback; Simplified language; Listen actively [19].

4 Suggestions on strengthening effective communication of safety information

Develop good communication skills

Although communication may involve a wide range, which may be between individuals or between two groups, the most basic communication is still between two people. The following are some communication skills between the sender and the receiver:

1) The communication skills of the information sender are as follows [7]: ① Think carefully before speaking; ② transmit clear and complete information; ③ The information sent should be understood by the receiver; ④ Choose the appropriate information media; ⑤ Avoid information filtering and information distortion; Provide true information to avoid the spread of some rumors.

2) The communication skills of information recipients are as follows [8]: ① Stop talking and listen; 2 understand each other's feelings; 3 show each other that you are willing to listen; ④ Don't draw conclusions without detailed research; Ask questions to show your understanding.

4.2 Safety observation

Safety observation is an effective means to correct unsafe behavior. At the same time, safety observation can cultivate employees' safety awareness, promote employees' participation in safety affairs and enhance open communication between management and employees.

Safety observation should be carried out regularly as the daily safety activities of the enterprise, and safety observers should include the top management and front-line employees of the enterprise. It is very important for senior managers of enterprises to participate in safety observation activities, which is an effective way to reflect the safety commitment of management. When the top management of an enterprise inspects the work site and expresses concern about safety, the on-site personnel will feel that this concern is a reflection of the company's policies, and this feeling will naturally become the driving force for safety at work. Direct face-to-face discussions between managers and employees can narrow the distance between top managers and front-line employees.

Safety observation procedures include observation, on-site unsafe behavior correction, group discussion of observation results and effective measures to prevent unsafe behaviors and unsafe conditions from happening again.

4.3 Improve various security systems

Some important safety management systems are based on the exchange of safety information, such as handover system and work permit system; Other security management systems provide security information for various activities of enterprises, such as lock/list system. These safety management systems must be improved and employees should be educated and trained.

1) inheritance system

Many enterprises adopt shift work system, which improves work efficiency, but has a negative impact on enterprise safety production. Many accidents are caused by the lack of effective communication of safety information during handover, such as the explosion accident of BP Texas refinery mentioned above. Therefore, it is very important to ensure effective communication during the handover. Handover generally involves two levels: between team leaders and between employees. No matter what level, the handover person needs to hand over in person. In order to ensure the handover time, both parties need to record some key information in the handover record. The information handed over by the team leader generally includes the safety status of public equipment and the integrity of safety facilities.

Lock/tag system

In the process of repairing and maintaining machinery and equipment, locking/tagging is an important link to prevent accidents. The purpose of locking is to avoid accidental starting of machines and equipment. Hang warning signs to explain the purpose of locking and remind personnel to pay attention. Machines and equipment should be locked and labeled by employees responsible for relevant operations, and keys should be properly kept. If there is more than one operator, each operator should lock his own lock and hang his own warning sign. At the end of the work, only after all operators unlock and take down their own warning signs, and notify the people around the machinery and equipment, can the machinery and equipment be started. Lock/tag should generally be used at the same time, and tag can be used alone only when the device switch cannot be locked.

Warning signs should be hung on the equipment switch, and the names and work contents of the operators should be clearly marked on the warning signs. In order to implement the lockout/tagout system, specific operating procedures should be established and all employees of the enterprise should be trained to ensure that all personnel are familiar with the system.

3) Work permit system

For some unconventional high-risk operations, such as confined space operations, hot work, aerial work, high-pressure operations, etc. , must implement the work permit system. Before issuing the work permit, the work permit shall fully consider all the hazards that may be involved in the operation, and indicate the necessary hazard control measures on the work permit. The work permit should also ensure that dangerous operations are completed by employees with relevant qualifications. When carrying out dangerous operations, the work permit holder should carefully check whether the safety measures listed in the work permit are correct and complete.

4.4 Safety Management Information System

Safety management information system is based on intranet, which collects, sorts out and publishes safety information, provides employees with various safety rules and regulations, operating procedures, safety knowledge and safety record forms, and also provides safety statistical information for safety decision-making of enterprise management. A perfect safety management information system can ensure that the correct safety information is delivered to those who need it at the right time. The safety management information system should also include the following functions to promote the effective communication of safety information and the participation of employees:

1) Collect photos of unsafe behaviors and unsafe conditions of different operations, establish an online danger photo library, clearly explain the potential dangers of different operations, provide practical reference materials for employees, and improve their safety awareness.

2) Intranet has safety training courses, which is convenient for employees to review or conduct pre-job training.

3) Open an online safety forum column to encourage employees to participate in safety production discussions.

5 conclusion

1) Effective communication of safety information is an important way for enterprises to build a positive safety culture. Good communication is conducive to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of safety decision-making and problem solving, clarifying safety responsibilities and improving employees' safety awareness.

2) In enterprise safety management, enterprise safety production rules and regulations and various operating procedures should be communicated to each employee through top-down communication channels, while all kinds of accident information and hidden danger information at the scene are communicated to the top management of the enterprise through bottom-up communication channels; In addition, safety information should also be transmitted between and within different departments of the enterprise through horizontal communication channels. Safety information can be transmitted within the enterprise through safety training, safety meetings, safety documents, etc. The most effective form is face-to-face conversation between managers and employees.

3) The communication of safety information between enterprises and the outside is also very important for the safety production of enterprises, mainly including the update of laws, regulations and standards, and the communication of safety information with suppliers and contractors.

4) By implementing measures to improve the effective communication of safety information, overcoming the factors that hinder effective communication, forming a good communication atmosphere, encouraging employees to report unsafe behaviors, unsafe conditions and near misses, and encouraging employees not to blame them, safety awareness will be deeply rooted in people's hearts, and enterprise safety performance will achieve good results.