Analysis of the Relationship between the Professionally Important Qualities of a Specialist and the Safety of Technological Processes in Metallurgy

To ensure and maintain the level of safety at a metallurgical enterprise (as well as at any other hazardous production facility), it is advisable to select specialists with the appropriate professionally important qualities, prepare them for possible psychological stresses, teach them the correct methodology of performing work for avoiding possible injuries and accidents at the production site. Training and certification of managers are fixed in the relevant regulatory documents, but the professionally important qualities of the employee are not specified in any regulation documents. It is professionally important qualities that help an employee to cope with an emergency, correctly process the information received and quickly make the right decision, clearly follow the guidelines of the production instructions and rules. According to the statistics of incidents, many safety violations are committed by the employees not because of ignorance, but because of disregard for the written rules and regulations. Such incidents testify to the incomplete correspondence of the professionally important qualities of the employee to the chosen activity. The paper presents the results of a study of professional recruitment in the field of metallurgy, the main hazardous factors of production, statistical data on injuries and accidents at the metallurgical enterprises. By the method of expert assessments, the professionally important qualities required for the crane operator and operators of conveyor belts were revealed. Methodologies were selected that make it possible to determine the required professionally important qualities. In the course of the study a number of tests were conducted, which demonstrated that the respondents generally have satisfactory neuropsychic stability, as well as an adequate strategy for solving problems in stressful situations. This allowed to conclude that in a situation of increased psycho-emotional stress, a person will quickly and correctly assess the situation, then make the right decision or take an action that will not aggravate the situation.