Would You Hand a Live Cable to an Apprentice?
Announcement posted by DesignBuild Source 07 May 2012
Wokrplace Safety
Last month, on a busy Melbourne street, WorkSafe Victoria decided to perform an experiment.
Two actors, one the ‘supervisor’ and the other an ‘apprentice’, posed as electrical workers performing maintenance work. During the experiment, the ‘supervisor’ asked passersby to do them a favour and pass a live wire to an apprentice.
Staggeringly, even after they were warned that the cable was dangerous and would give the apprentice a ‘slight electric shock’, no fewer than nine out of 10 people walking down Bourke Street did as they were told.
Even after the apprentice received a fake shock and dropped the cable, the helpful passersby picked it up and handed it to him again.
The moral of the story, according to WorkSafe, is that people will take risks if you ask them, so don’t ask them.
The experiment was conducted as part of WorkSafe’s supervisors’ campaign to help demonstrate that people are willing to obey instructions, even if it means others may be harmed.
Workplace WorkSafe Operations General Manager Lisa Sturzenegger says that supervisors need to take note and be aware of this.
“It’s in people’s nature to be respectful and do the right thing, but at times doing that can lead to danger,” Sturzenegger says. “Supervisors should not be asking workers to do something that is unsafe and dangerous as there is a high likelihood they will. Supervisors need to be aware of this and ensure the people who are working for and with them are not put into a dangerous situation.”
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Two actors, one the ‘supervisor’ and the other an ‘apprentice’, posed as electrical workers performing maintenance work. During the experiment, the ‘supervisor’ asked passersby to do them a favour and pass a live wire to an apprentice.
Staggeringly, even after they were warned that the cable was dangerous and would give the apprentice a ‘slight electric shock’, no fewer than nine out of 10 people walking down Bourke Street did as they were told.
Even after the apprentice received a fake shock and dropped the cable, the helpful passersby picked it up and handed it to him again.
The moral of the story, according to WorkSafe, is that people will take risks if you ask them, so don’t ask them.
The experiment was conducted as part of WorkSafe’s supervisors’ campaign to help demonstrate that people are willing to obey instructions, even if it means others may be harmed.
Workplace WorkSafe Operations General Manager Lisa Sturzenegger says that supervisors need to take note and be aware of this.
“It’s in people’s nature to be respectful and do the right thing, but at times doing that can lead to danger,” Sturzenegger says. “Supervisors should not be asking workers to do something that is unsafe and dangerous as there is a high likelihood they will. Supervisors need to be aware of this and ensure the people who are working for and with them are not put into a dangerous situation.”
Continue Reading