There are different methods to influence human behaviour. Besides regulations and rules, there are also psychological approaches to subtly steer people’s behaviour in one direction. This subtle steering is called “nudging”. Nudging – in German “Stupsen”. The aim of nudging is to induce people to behave in a desired way by means of indirect incentives and based on psychological mechanisms. Internationally recognised work is currently increasingly pointing out that the potential of alternative behaviour modelling approaches, which are aimed more at unconscious or automatic action, is also great in the area of occupational safety.

Suva, the largest accident insurer in Switzerland, wanted to investigate accurate into this. In its work, Suva combines prevention and insurance as well as rehabilitation of employees. In the context of prevention, Suva is committed to preventing accidents and occupational illnesses in the context of occupational and leisure safety. At the same time, it promotes a safety culture in companies, raises awareness of dangers and motivates people to take responsibility. The present project focused on preventive measures to increase occupational safety and specifically examined the possibilities of nudging approaches. The project was carried out by Suva’s “Human Factors” team together with the Risk Dialogue Foundation.

The final report serves as an internal basis for Suva and is not publicly available.