Accident-prone norms: implications for clinical laboratories. A methods for examining groups norms and interaction...

Employee accidents are a costly problem for clinical laboratories. Consequently, investigation and prevention of accidents are integral parts of the clinical laboratory manager's job. There are a wide variety of traditional modes of accident research; however, they usually do not include investigations of work group norms and interaction networks. Group norms that contradict formal safety norms can arise in clinical laboratory work groups. These accident-prone norms often result in problematic procedures and activities. Examples of these accident-prone norms include: failure to use safety equipment, failure to follow safety procedures, alcohol or drug use on the job, failure to pass on information about equipment problems, and failure to report job-related accidents. These norms are frequently transmitted through interaction networks. Sociometric techniques can provide insights about the networks and can be used to develop solutions to accident-prone norms.