How Can Illusions Lead to Unsafe Acts and Accidents? Exploring the Connection

Dear friends,

There is the question as to how illusion can cause accidents?
Here is my brief answer.

Perception is the midway process between sensing and behavior. Perception is the process by which we understand the stimulus, interpret its meaning and modify our behavior. It is a way of interpreting stimulus which is determined largely by past experience.

Illusion is a false perception.

With a machine out put depends only up on input and it is predictable. However with a man the input – stimulus remaining the same behavior may differ. This is because perception of men differs –from person to person, time to time, and condition to condition. This is important in accident prevention.

For illusion there are very many causes. The energy available for sensing such as radiation for seeing, mechanical for hearing and touching, chemical for smelling and tasting. Cognizance also plays an important role in perception/illusion.

A man in dim light may see a snake on the aisle and jump to fall in the ditch. Another with a torch may see the same as a piece of rope and kick it or remove it the side

An illusion may cause unsafe behavior. Unsafe behavior can cause accidents. This is the relation illusion has with accident prevention.

Regards,
Kesava Pillai

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the simplest explanation.

Do you have any case study of an Industrial Accident in which illusion comes as a contributory reason? If so, please share the same for a better understanding of the concept.

Suppose after a particular Incident Investigation, it came to be known that illusion was one of the contributory reasons for that incident. What recommendations must we suggest to avoid the re-occurrence? How can we ensure the parallel implementation of these recommendations among all the working crew as "perception of men differs - from person to person, time to time, and condition to condition"?

I would like to share an incident in which this illusion may be one of the contributory reasons. I think so. Need clarification.

One person was engaged in poking material in a hopper through a poking hole of diameter 100mm. During this work, suddenly, a few materials fleshed out through the opening. By seeing this, he thought the amount of material fleshed out is high and jumped from the platform, resulting in an injury to his foot. He did not consider what the maximum material that could flesh through a 100mm hole.

Please give your valuable comments on the above incident. What are the reasons you identify, and what suggestions should we give to avoid the recurrence of such incidents?

Regards,

Dipil Kumar V

I do not think it is an illusion.

1) The worker has not been given proper training in the operation of the machine.

2) The feed table is placed so high; proper guarding should have been provided for the worker to prevent jumping and potential injuries.

3) The worker, I presume, is in the 'line of fire'; any material backfall would certainly create anxiety for the worker due to assumption or past experience. When using a hopper for feeding where the likelihood of backfall exists, there should be an operator-controlled switch near their workplace to prevent such occurrences.

The above points are based on the details provided by you. However, upon actual observation, there are other factors to consider, such as the operator's height in relation to the feed table and hopper.

The best approach is to observe the operation for ten minutes; you may identify numerous unsafe behaviors or conditions.

Babu Alexander
9940689880

Dear all,

I am copying the question from Mr. Dipils' write-up:
"How can we ensure the parallel implementation of these particular recommendations among all the working crew, as 'perception of men differs - from person to person, time to time, and condition to condition'?"

Counseling and training have been identified as tools to bring different persons in a work area to the same level so that their reaction to a particular situation is more or less of the same pattern. Although achieving the ideal condition where everyone reacts in a similar way is not possible, training can help bridge the differences and develop the skills where people can react in the desired safe manner.

Best Regards,
Raman.

@Raman,

Thanks a lot for your reply to my query. Surely, counseling and training are the tools we can use to change a person's behavior.

In the starting thread, Keshav Pillai pointed out an example of an illusion where a person mistook a piece of rope for a snake, leading to a jump and an accident. In this case, can counseling and training help? Can they ensure that the same person does not repeat the same wrong perception? In this particular example, I believe this incident occurred due to poor visibility, and the recommendation should be to increase illumination. Perhaps, illusion may be a contributory cause that cannot be entirely eliminated, with the root cause being the lack of illumination.

I look forward to hearing more views on illusions from other members. Once again, I request anyone with a case study of an industrial accident where illusion was a cause to please share it.

Regards,
Dipil Kumar V