Abstract
Background
Non-technical skills (NTS) are the cognitive and social skills considered vital for safe and effective work performance alongside technical knowledge. The current study seeks to explore these skills in the high-risk domain of felling tasks within the UK forestry context.
Method
Semi-structured interviews encompassing the critical incident technique were conducted with 25 forestry employees (9 chainsaw operators, 6 supervisors, 10 managers).
Results
The results emphasise the relevance of NTS for chainsaw operations within the forestry context. A range of both social (leadership, teamwork & communication) and cognitive (situation awareness, decision-making, task management, cognitive readiness) NTS were identified. The elements and associated codes within each skill category illustrate the fit of these skills with the specific forestry context, with some elements entirely unique to chainsaw operations. A range of factors that could adversely impact NTS performance were also identified across five categories (external pressure, training and experience, environmental conditions, cognitive influences, individual constraints).
Conclusion
The results represent the first step towards developing a NTS framework and associated behavioural marker system for forestry chainsaw operations. Further research and development are required to produce a full system that can be used to support training and assessment of NTS in practice. However, the current results can be used to raise awareness of these skills within the forestry industry, and as support for the inclusion of NTS within chainsaw operator training programs.
Non-technical skills (NTS) are the cognitive and social skills considered vital for safe and effective work performance alongside technical knowledge. The current study seeks to explore these skills in the high-risk domain of felling tasks within the UK forestry context.
Method
Semi-structured interviews encompassing the critical incident technique were conducted with 25 forestry employees (9 chainsaw operators, 6 supervisors, 10 managers).
Results
The results emphasise the relevance of NTS for chainsaw operations within the forestry context. A range of both social (leadership, teamwork & communication) and cognitive (situation awareness, decision-making, task management, cognitive readiness) NTS were identified. The elements and associated codes within each skill category illustrate the fit of these skills with the specific forestry context, with some elements entirely unique to chainsaw operations. A range of factors that could adversely impact NTS performance were also identified across five categories (external pressure, training and experience, environmental conditions, cognitive influences, individual constraints).
Conclusion
The results represent the first step towards developing a NTS framework and associated behavioural marker system for forestry chainsaw operations. Further research and development are required to produce a full system that can be used to support training and assessment of NTS in practice. However, the current results can be used to raise awareness of these skills within the forestry industry, and as support for the inclusion of NTS within chainsaw operator training programs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 106112 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Safety Science |
| Volume | 163 |
| Early online date | 24 Feb 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jul 2023 |
Bibliographical note
FundingThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Data Availability Statement
Data availabilityThe data that has been used is confidential.
Keywords
- Forestry
- Chainsaw
- Non-technical skills
- Situation awareness
- Leadership
Access to Document
- Irwin_etal_SS_Thinking_Five_Or_VoR
0925-7535/© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).