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February, 1947

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The safety movement in the mining industry has accomplished excellent work by means of education and propaganda. The movement is not confined to this country, it has spread to all civilised nations and is probably the most powerful influence at work today in accident prevention. In the mining industry, the safety education of the officials and workmen is being carried out by lectures, films, safety leaflets and literature, slogans and posters. The educational programme is naturally modified according to the size of the concern and the hazards involved. With regard to safety posters, perhaps the mining industry has not appreciated their potentialities to the same extent as other industries.

The personal factor

It is manifest that the problem of accident prevention in mines is one which presents itself in different forms, and must, therefore, be approached from many different angles. From the records, it appears that a large proportion of the accidents were found to be due to personal rather than physical causes. Since the human factor plays such an important role in accident causation, serious attempts should be made to analyse this factor and give it psychological study. In the majority of so-called "avoidable accidents the apparent carelessness of the workman may be due to one or more of a host of complex factors — psychological and physiological — many of which are largely beyond his control. An accident which prima fade is attributed to neglect may be due to unfavourable environmental conditions, inaptitude, lack of skill or instruction, or other obscure cause even more remote.

One fallacy which has contributed largely to mining accidents is the belief that the experienced miner knows how to protect himself. If this is accepted, then educational efforts in connection with the safety movement are futile. It is unequivocal that a man learns by experience, but if this is unaided by enlightened education in safe working habits, it is often a dismal record of haphazard adjustments to changes, painfully acquired by successive failures. When the old-timer has a deep-rooted feeling that he is infallible he becomes a psychological case.

The human element exhibits some interesting aspects when accidents are analysed. It is abundantly clear from statistics that "rules and regulations" alone will not ensure immunity from accidents. Many injuries attributed to the human element may be due to an error of judgment and merely proves the truth of the old adage, "to err is human." Others may be caused by a lack of intelligent supervision, haste, indiscipline or acts of bravado or foolhardiness. Although safety rules and regulations are obviously necessary, they do not appear to have a serious effect on the human factor in its relation and reaction to safe working habits. With respect to a section of the younger element in mines, discipline on firm lines is an essential deterrent to acts of bravado and general foolhardiness. Regarding mine discipline G. N. McLellan was very much to the point when he said "Education is often said to be the cure for unsafe practices. To some extent this is true. Safety education is essential and should be developed to a higher degree, but the fact that certain unsafe practices would not be tolerated is more easily learned than a knowledge of accident hazards."

With a certain type of workman, the appearance of a safety poster is unwelcome, and in a sense it is difficult to blame him. If it was possible to analyse his complex thoughts and emotions, the poster probably tends to disturb his mental tranquility. The natural response of some of the older and experienced men to the poster is cynical . . . "ten to one drawn by some office fellow with no experience." In spite of the difficulties, the pictorial form of appeal should be persevered with as undoubtedly it has achieved a great deal in getting the workmen into a new line of thought. When this mental stage is reached, the response follows naturally.

The poster design

The poster — whether good, indifferent or just bad — is sure to receive attention as most individuals are pictorially minded. The first written language was in the form of pictures, they attract and arrest attention far more readily than a cold statement. The picture must be apt and relevant to the safety objective of the designer. Even illustrations that are irrelevant to the idea, may attract attention on account of its humorous appeal or its artistic design, but the attention is casual and transient — the safety motif is soon forgotten. The factors within the poster that attract attention are the intrinsic interest — value of the situation illustrated and the suggestion of action or movement. The dramatic approach will probably gain a quick response, but it tends to irritate many. Unusually interesting photographs that show the beneficial or pleasurable side of safe practices gain a good deal of attention and are not readily forgotten.

The perspective in the situation illustrated will attract a man's attention; he may consider himself as viewing the scene from a distance or it may be a close-up view. When the perspective is well conceived and executed, it is often a strong inducement for arresting as well as holding the attention. Magnification is another valuable aspect of perspective and can often be used to advantage. The designer may wish the picture of a certain safety or hygienic device to dominate the situation, hence the device is magnified or set in front in such a conspicuous manner that it is out of proportion to all other objects in the picture. In considering pictorial methods, to arrest attention it is desirable not to confuse attention with appeal. The man's attention must be caught as he passes the poster, but it must be held by the use of an appeal that is related to the man's interests, work or environment. The picture should be decisive in its human interest and mental imagery. Cold intellectual appeals are not so stimulating to response as the warmer emotional aspects.

The theme or appeal of a pictorial effort has a great influence in causing workers to notice and remember the message conveyed. The theme or appeal in any poster or other propaganda effort is any idea which forms an active part of our system of associative linkages. Some of the desirable features or qualities of a good poster appeal may be enumerated thus (1) in order to be forcible, it should particularise and only deal with one type of accident or safety precaution, (2) the message should be conveyed in a simple, clear and striking manner, (3) humour is a doubtful method of appeal — it should only be used sparingly and never in an exaggerated form (this is the main flaw in Fig. 3), (4) the human appeal is stimulating and necessary, but it should not be overdrawn and overdoses of pathos are undesirable, (5) an appeal which is closely linked with the workman's problems, interests, health, and even family affairs, is the most stimulating and lasting. A number of different poster themes must be shown if they are to reach the majority of the workmen.

Intellectual versus emotional appeal

One of the oldest controversies in educational propaganda is whether to use material that appeals to the intellect or material that appeals to the emotions and feelings. The miner performs few purely intellectual jobs and, of course, the same applies to men in other industries. All the tasks carried out in the mine, even the most highly skilled, all assume an -emotional aspect under certain conditions. Supporters of the emotional appeal claim that the human brain functions in the emotional, instinctive and reflexive reactions rather than in intellectual reactions. The parts of the brain which are important in the processes of cool reasoning and association are comparatively recent in organic history. This is mainly the reason why, in cases of emergency, panic or sudden danger, it is the "primitive brain" that takes control and men react as animals and not as logical human beings. Probably, in safety education there is scope for the intellectual and the emotional types of appeal — suitably selected and blended. For poster work, where the entire theme and message is necessarily limited to one sheet, the emotional form appears to be preferable.

Naturally, most men prefer to think of themselves as intellectual beings rather than emotional creatures. Hence, to satisfy this pardonable egoism, a sprinkling of logical or logic-sounding ideas will help to justify their emotionally acquired decisions. A workman's intelligence may dictate that a certain safety device should be used, but the action seldom comes voluntarily, until he has acquired an acute feeling that he simply must use it. Human being perform few things simply because they should be done — it must be an urge with an emotional appeal. A miner may be advised, instructed or cajoled to use, say an anti-dust appliance, but his enthusiasm is not aroused until the issue becomes an intensely personal one, as when his doctor warns him that it is either that appliance or an early death.

Positive versus negative appeal

Of the accident prevention posters regularly exhibited in British mines, probably only a small proportion make use of the negative appeal, that is, picture the morbid aspects of accidents. On the other hand, in Germany for example, there is a tendency to emphasise the gruesome results of dangerous practices. This approach to safety education is objectionable to the British temperament. The gruesome poster — depicting men caught in wrecked tubs, men mangled by machinery or mutilated by falls of ground and so on — is an example of negative propaganda which tends to scare the worker and induce a state of morbid fear in his mind. This mental condition may set up a state of nervousness which may itself become a predisposing cause of accidents rather than a deterring one. This danger applies with particular force to the younger personnel or to men who are neurasthenically disposed. Supporters of the negative type of appeal claim, that the end is justified by the means. Fear is unquestionably a strong deterrent to unsafe acts which may entail serious consequences, but for the reasons given above, it should be employed with care and in moderation. The gruesome hazards of mining or the mining machine should not, be exaggerated or dramatised in order to impress the tyro or new entrant — this often has the effect of causing them to seek employment outside the industry.

The British poster normally leans towards the positive type of appeal and emphasises the agreeable advantages that will follow a moral line of action rather than stress the direful consequences following a contrary line of action. It is probably sound psychologically that workmen are less inclined to incur accidents if they are in a cheerful but alert frame of mind. It is not compatible with safety education to inculcate a. feeling of apprehension and nervousness, which may happen when workmen contemplate posters depicting death and mutilation. The negative appeal could well be mitigated by showing the positive or desired side of the dangerous situation rather than the catastrophic. At the most the catastrophe should only be subtly suggested and not vividly illustrated. A good example of the negative type of poster appeal is shown in Fig. 1, which is a German effort at drastic realism. The positive type of appeal is well illustrated in Fig. 4, which was designed and used by the Fife Coal Co. Ltd.

Objective versus subjective appeal

The worker lives in two worlds — the subjective world and the objective world. The subjective world — in which he spends most of his time — comprises his imagination, feelings and emotions, In a safety movement, the education propaganda is probably more effective when the approach is that of the subjective which stimulates the senses and emotions of the individual. In this way, the appeal tends to become a real part of his mental make-up. For example, the merits of a safety device may be described objectively, that is, its ease of operation, efficiency, light weight and so on. But it is usually easier to convert the man to its employment by describing its merits on the basis of his own health or safety and perhaps the well-being of his family. The poster or leaflet should not only eulogise the safety objective, but also the pleasant aspect of achieving that objective.

Posters and other safety literature should be shown in prominent and well-lit positions on the surface and at the pit bottom. To draw attention to the value of protective clothing and equipment, posters have contributed their full quota. They can be used to give publicity to authentic cases where injuries to head, hands, eyes and feet were prevented or mitigated by using the appropriate equipment. The film method of demonstration is also very effective, particularly to the younger employees, because they can actually see the reason for certain precautions in certain jobs, instead of attempting to visualise them from literature. Probably, the film method of safety education should be more widely employed, not only to teach safe practices, but to convey some of the romance and manliness of mining as a profession.

Drawings and Photographs accompanying the article