{"id":14335,"date":"2020-08-18T14:45:50","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T12:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line-ehs.co.uk\/ehs\/?p=6262"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:58:37","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T14:58:37","slug":"business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/","title":{"rendered":"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>Marc-Andr\u00e9 Ferron\u2019s criticisms<\/strong><\/h3> Marc-Andr\u00e9 Ferron is a Canadian OHS professional. He makes a number of criticisms of Bradley\u2019s approach, pointing out several inconsistencies, particularly: <ul>   <li><strong>Incompatibility<\/strong> with the legal provisions on OHS. The interdependence advocated as the ultimate goal by Bradley may lead to the impression that employers can release themselves of their primary responsibilities.<\/li>   <li>The origin of the Bradley curve is based on the stages of individuals\u2019 development. But OHS is, first and foremost, a&nbsp;<strong>collective issue<\/strong>.<\/li>   <li>In the legislation of most developed countries, the behavioural dimension of OHS is a secondary objective that only becomes important when the&nbsp;<strong>collective provisions have<\/strong>&nbsp;been implemented (cf. the nine general principles of prevention).<\/li> <\/ul> Moreover, the theoretical bases of Bradley\u2019s vision are not guaranteed and merit discussion in the light of other personality development theories. <h3><strong>Ferron\u2019s proposal<\/strong><\/h3> Given these remarks and with the knowledge that prevention initiatives must be organised and prioritised in successive stages, M-A Ferron proposes a curve that I\u2019m not allowed to reproduce here, although you can find it at:&nbsp;<a>http:\/\/www.gestionauthentique.com\/en\/ferron-curve-pyramid\/ferron-curve<\/a>  In his opinion, companies concerned about OHS should begin by focusing on the working environment, equipment and materials. The primary objective is to&nbsp;<strong>eliminate the hazards at source<\/strong>.  Having completed the above, they should implement a management system that includes responsibilities, roles, rules, standards, operating procedures and other essential aspects. Only then it is reasonable to turn to individual behaviours. <h3><strong>A chronology of effectiveness<\/strong><\/h3> The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards. Does this approach have the scientific properties attributed to it by its author? We can\u2019t say so in the absence of any genuine studies to validate these steps.  However, from a pragmatic standpoint, Ferron\u2019s approach is certainly a rational one that constitutes a reasoned guide for progress towards a kind of prevention that mobilises technical, organisational, social and human processes.  Given the importance of managerial involvement for effective prevention, a factor I\u2019ve already highlighted in several posts, it would be useful to specify the managers\u2019 role in each of the stages. One might imagine that this role increases as we move towards the right of the curve. This is a point worth debating more broadly.  Finally, let\u2019s remember that, in Ferron\u2019s view, organisational behaviours determine individual behaviours: \u201cEmployees will always adopt behaviours that reflect organisational behaviours. Absences of consistency, thoroughness, structure, training and evaluation [\u2026] will always have a direct impact on individual behaviours.\u201d  In other words, when it comes to OHS hazards, there are never purely individual causes. The organisation is always involved. This is a fact that HSE managers should tirelessly strive to convey.  <img \/><strong>William Dab<\/strong> is a Professor and Health and Safety Chair at&nbsp;<a>Cnam<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 France, where he trains specialists in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/technology-driven-ehs-management-system-simplifies-iso-14001-certification\/\">occupational health and environmental risks<\/a>, notably through an engineering course in risk management. He is a doctor specialised in epidemiology. His career has been entirely devoted to health and safety, whether it be developing tools for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/why-implementing-ehs-software-is-a-valuable-investment\/\">risk assessment, monitoring and management<\/a>. As a former Director-General of Health, he was a member of the WHO Executive Committee and Chairman of the European Environment and Health Committee for the WHO European Region. He has also published a number of books related to health and safety  If you have any questions to&nbsp;<a>William Dab<\/a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a>Red-on-line<\/a>&nbsp;team, please leave them in the comments section, or you can get in touch with us on social media via LinkedIn and Twitter:&nbsp;<a><strong>@HSE_Rol<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong>and&nbsp;<a><strong>@DabWilliam<\/strong><\/a>.   <span class=\"separator separator--center separator--gradient separator--md\"><\/span>\n\n\n<h4><span class=\"has-inline-color has-color-5-color\"><strong>EHS regulatory compliance and monitoring \u2013 an expert solution to ensure your organization\u2019s compliance <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Stay ahead of evolving HSE requirements across 300+ jurisdictions, with daily updates curated by our in-house legal experts.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"bttn-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/solutions\/regulatory-compliance-and-monitoring\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"bttn  bttn--md\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"bttn__cont-label-icon\"><span class=\"bttn__label\">Discover Red-on-line\u2019s regulatory compliance and monitoring solution.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All EHS managers know about the&nbsp;<a>Bradley<\/a>&nbsp;curve. But it\u2019s not always used in the right way. I\u2019ve often seen it portrayed as a set of stages leading to excellence in OHS (occupational health and safety). Bradley refers to organisational culture, focusing on individual behaviour and its four categories:&nbsp;<strong>reactive, dependent, independent and interdependent.<\/strong>&nbsp;The above could, of course, be related to OHS-related performance, but it\u2019s rather a peculiar and partial perspective.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[73,603,611,537],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Red On line (COM)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T12:45:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-20T14:58:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"serviceweb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/\",\"name\":\"Red On line (COM)\",\"description\":\"Un site utilisant Les sites de Red On Line\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/\",\"name\":\"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T12:45:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-20T14:58:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b77f48b15628d22202d65591564dd701\"},\"description\":\"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b77f48b15628d22202d65591564dd701\",\"name\":\"serviceweb\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c042920bbf7e7978c4a1e437e8e98be0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c042920bbf7e7978c4a1e437e8e98be0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"serviceweb\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/smerle.modern.red-on-line.sbx.dev2.gisi-interactive.net\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/author\/serviceweb\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)","description":"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)","og_description":"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`","og_url":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/","og_site_name":"Red On line (COM)","article_published_time":"2020-08-18T12:45:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-20T14:58:37+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"serviceweb","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/","name":"Red On line (COM)","description":"Un site utilisant Les sites de Red On Line","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/","name":"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve? - Red On line (COM)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-08-18T12:45:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-20T14:58:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b77f48b15628d22202d65591564dd701"},"description":"The Ferron curve proposes a series of coherent steps to achieve maximum effectiveness in the prevention of occupational hazards`","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/business-and-health-have-you-heard-of-the-ferron-curve\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business and health: Have you heard of the Ferron curve?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b77f48b15628d22202d65591564dd701","name":"serviceweb","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c042920bbf7e7978c4a1e437e8e98be0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c042920bbf7e7978c4a1e437e8e98be0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"serviceweb"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/smerle.modern.red-on-line.sbx.dev2.gisi-interactive.net"],"url":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/blog\/author\/serviceweb\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14335"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21016,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14335\/revisions\/21016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.red-on-line.com\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}