The successes and challenges of implementing high reliability principles: A case study of a UK oil refinery

Research conducted on organisations that are able to sustain excellent safety records over long time periods suggests that there are a number of practices that organisations can adopt to achieve high levels of reliability and safety. These practices are often discussed in the context of major incidents to highlight the safety standards that high hazard organisations should try to emulate. However, previous research has predominantly focused on non-profit organisations, and comparatively little research has examined whether high reliability practices may be meaningfully applied to commercial contexts. This paper addresses this gap by using a qualitative approach to explore the types of reliability-enhancing practices implemented in a UK-based oil refinery in its attempt to achieve its ethos of ‘safe and reliable operations’. The findings illustrate the successful application of reliability-enhancing practices in several domains, including: hazard identification and control; emergency preparedness and collection; and analysis of incidents and near misses. Management commitment to safety emerged as an important factor underpinning the successful implementation of reliability-enhancing practices, highlighting its potential significance in the context of commercial organisations. However, promoting an open reporting culture and maintaining high levels of management visibility may be some of the challenges encountered by organisations striving to implement reliability-enhancing practices.     

Management practices as antecedents of safety culture within the trucking industry: similarities and differences by hierarchical level

PROBLEM: A homogeneous perception of safety is important for the achievement of a strong safety culture; however, employees may differ in their safety perceptions, depending on their position and/or hierarchical level within the organization. Moreover, there is limited information on the antecedents of safety culture. This study examines how safety training, driver scheduling autonomy, opportunity for safety input, and management commitment to safety influence individuals' perceptions of safety culture. METHOD: Data for this study were drawn from 116 trucking firms, stratified by three safety performance levels. The data were collected from drivers (lowest hierarchical level), dispatchers (medium hierarchical level), and safety directors (highest hierarchical level), regarding their perceptions of their respective corporate safety cultures. Perceptions of safety culture were analyzed through a linear regression using dummy variables to differentiate among the three hierarchical groups. The resulting model allowed for examination of the specific antecedents of safety culture for the three employee groups and the extent to which the hierarchical groups were in agreement with each other. RESULTS: Driver fatigue training, driver opportunity for safety input, and top management commitment to safety were perceived to be integral determinants of safety culture in all three groups. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Trucking firms seeking to strengthen employees' perceptions of safety culture might begin by improving these safety management practices while appreciating that they may have a different impact depending on the employee's hierarchical position (e.g., drivers' perceptions of safety culture are more influenced by top management commitment and driver fatigue training). A fourth safety practice examined, driver scheduling autonomy, was not found to be instrumental in shaping safety culture for any of the three hierarchical levels. Consistent with previous research, implementation of stronger safety cultures should result in fewer accidents.     

The mediating role of psychological capital between perceived management commitment and safety behavior

Introduction: Among attempts that address high incidences of fatalities and injuries in coal mines, increasing attention has been paid to management commitment to complement the traditional focus on technological advances in safety management. However, more research is needed to explain the influence of perceived management commitment, with extant research drawing commonly on Griffin and Neal (2000) to focus on safety knowledge, skills, and motivation. This study draws on social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986) to investigate psychological capital as a link between thought process and safety behavior. Method: This study uses survey data from 400 frontline workers in China’s coal mines to test hypotheses. Result: Results suggest that perceived management commitment to safety correlates positively with workers’ safety compliance and participation, and four constituents of psychological capital—self-efficacy, hope, optimism, and resilience—explain the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and participation. Practical Applications: Findings offer both researchers and practitioners an explanation of how perceived management commitment influences safety behaviors, and clarify the roles psychological capital constituents play in explaining the influence of perceived management commitment on safety compliance and safety participation.     

安太堡露天煤矿职业健康安全管理体系绩效分析

通过对安太堡露天煤矿职业健康安全管理体系认证前后安全生产管理基础数据的调查和统计,采用定性和定量的分析方法对该企业的安全管理水平进行了绩效对比分析和模型分析。结果表明,对于露天煤矿企业,建立职业健康安全管理体系有利于提高企业安全管理的水平;同时证明,该绩效分析方法具有分析过程简单、分析结果科学实用等优点。     

The nature of safety culture: a review of theory and research

This paper reviews the literature on safety culture and safety climate. The main emphasis is on applied research customary in the social psychological or organisational psychological traditions. Although safety culture and climate are generally acknowledged to be important concepts, not much consensus has been reached on the cause, the content and the consequences of safety culture and climate in the past 20 years. Moreover, there is an overall lack of models specifying either the relationship of both concepts with safety and risk management or with safety performance. In this paper, safety culture and climate will be differentiated according to a general framework based on work by Schein (1992 Schein) on organisational culture. This framework distinguishes three levels at which organisational culture can be studied — basis assumptions, espoused values and artefacts. At the level of espoused values we find attitudes, which are equated with safety climate. The basic assumptions, however, form the core of the culture. It is argued that these basic assumptions do not have to be specifically about safety, although it is considered a good sign if they are. It is concluded that safety climate might be considered an alternative safety performance indicator and that research should focus on its scientific validity. More important, however, is the assessment of an organisation's basic assumptions, since these are assumed to be explanatory to its attitudes.     

“Safety is everyone's job:” The key to safety on a large university construction site

Problem

Construction risk management is challenging.

Method

We combined data on injuries, costs, and hours worked, obtained through a Rolling Owner-Controlled Insurance Program (ROCIP), with data from focus groups, interviews, and field observations, to prospectively study injuries and hazard control on a large university construction project.

Results

Lost-time injury rates (1.0/200,000 hours worked) were considerably lower than reported for the industry, and there were no serious falls from height. Safety was considered in the awarding of contracts and project timeline development; hazard management was iterative. A top-down management commitment to safety was clearly communicated to, and embraced by, workers throughout the site.

Discussion and Impact

A better understanding of how contracting relationships, workers' compensation, and liability insurance arrangements influence safety could shift risk management efforts from worker behaviors to a broader focus on how these programs and relationships affect incentives and disincentives for workplace safety and health.     

An integrated framework of safety performance evaluation for oil and gas production plants: Application to a petroleum transportation station

Safety performance evaluation is a significant way to ensure the safety of oil and gas production plants. Various evaluation methods have been proposed to make safety evaluation more consistent and scientific. However, a major concern is that many existing safety evaluation measurements are still subjective and are not easy to obtain in a uniform way, which can be attributed to the challenges that process plants faced such as people having different knowledge levels, equipment with dispersed locations and management with many processes. This paper aims to display the impact of risk factors on system safety level in a succinct and visual way that may be expected to overcome subjective opinions from experts and provide a more pertinent and practical safety strategies. To this end, an integrated framework is developed, which considers crucial risk factors from pipeline, static equipment, dynamic equipment and management. First, Fault tree analysis (FTA) is used to explicitly determine the crucial r risk factors. Then, a novel fuzzy cognitive map cooperating with relative degree analysis model (FCM-RDA) is proposed to deal with the weigh distribution opinions. Finally, considering the oil and gas production process is a complex system, a fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) is employed to calculate the overall safety level.     

Management commitment to safety as organizational support: relationships with non-safety outcomes in wood manufacturing employees

INTRODUCTION: Employee perceptions of management commitment to safety are known to influence important safety-related outcomes. However, little work has been conducted to explore non-safety-related outcomes resulting from a commitment to safety. METHOD: Employee-level outcomes critical to the effective functioning of an organization, including attitudes such as job satisfaction and commitment to the organization, were included on surveys given to 641 hourly production employees at three wood products manufacturing facilities. Participants' were asked about perceptions of management commitment to safety and job-related variables such as perceived dangerousness of their position, organizational commitment, and withdrawal behaviors. Supervisors also rated the performance of each of their hourly subordinates. RESULTS: Results suggest that employee outcomes differ based on perceptions of management's commitment to safety. Specifically, management commitment to safety was positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job-related performance. We also found a negative relationship between commitment to safety and employee withdrawal behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that increasing employee perceptions of management's personal concern for employee well-being through a dedication to safety will result in positive outcomes beyond improved safety performance. These results also imply that there is a type of social exchange between employees and management that may affect employees similarly to perceived organizational support. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Results further reinforce the value of a commitment to safety by a firm's management. Organizations with a strong commitment to safety may enjoy not only a reduction in safety-related events but also increases in desirable employee attitudes and behaviors.     

中国安全科学技术的新进步

1978年以来,我国国民生产总值增长了1.87倍,职工人数增加约1/3,工业千人死亡率和重伤率分别减少50％60％,其主要原因是安全科学技术的进步。它表现为:安全管理技术、关键的职业安全技术、安全法规标准、安全教育培训以及安全学术交流等方面有新的发展。文章就上述新进步作了简要论述。     

The impact of organizational climate on safety climate and individual behavior

Relatively little previous research has investigated the meechanisms by which safety climate affects safety behavior. The current study examined the effects of general organizational climate on safety climate and safety performance. As expected, general organizational climate exerted a significant impact on safety climate, and safety climate in turn was related to self-reports of compliance with safety regulations and procedures as well as participation in safety-related activities within the workplace. The effect of general organizational climate on safety performance was mediated by safety climate, while the effect of safety climate on safety performance was partially mediated by safety knowledge and motivation.     

Cultural influences on risks and risk management: six case studies

Ever since the accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant on 28 March 1979, the term ‘safety culture’ has been a hot topic for both researchers and organisations. Both the content and causes of a poor safety culture have been the focus of numerous research projects, but also its consequences on an organisation's safety performance and the way organisations should be ‘designed’ to facilitate a ‘good’ safety culture. Since others in this issue focus on the content and causes of safety culture, this article focuses on its consequences from two different but inter-related angles. In the first place, the cultural influences on incident causation are considered. In the second place, the cultural influences on risk management, or specifically incident reporting and analysis, are considered. Both angles are supported by empirical incident data collected in the Dutch steel industry and the medical domain. To collect this data, a risk management approach called PRISMA was used. Further, cultural differences between the domains investigated are highlighted and discussed.     

Successful health and safety management. The contribution of management audit

Auditing the health and safety performance of organisations is now recognised as an essential ingredient of successful health and safety management systems. The audit protocol — the question sets—is, however, only one of a number of factors which determine the end value of auditing. The competence of auditors, their insights into the organisations subject to scrutiny, their independence and the feedback and decision making processes that help organisations to review and change the way they operate are equally important. Much of the process of auditing needs to be systematic, methodical and scientific. However the art of the informed analysis and inspired interpretation can also add value to the total management process. Auditing alone will not prevent accidents and injuries. Health and safety management systems do that. Auditing seeks to assess the efficiency effectiveness of the systems. Informed management action must then follow, to maintain and improve them. This paper outlines five essential components of health and safety management; policy making, organising, planning, performance measurement and review which provide the environment in which effective auditing systems operate. It is derived from the work of HSE's Accident Prevention Advisory Unit and the advice published in “Successful Health and Safety Management” in 1991.     

CSHM: Web-based safety and health monitoring system for construction management

INTRODUCTION: This paper describes a web-based system for monitoring and assessing construction safety and health performance, entitled the Construction Safety and Health Monitoring (CSHM) system. METHOD: The design and development of CSHM is an integration of internet and database systems, with the intent to create a total automated safety and health management tool. A list of safety and health performance parameters was devised for the management of safety and health in construction. A conceptual framework of the four key components of CSHM is presented: (a) Web-based Interface (templates); (b) Knowledge Base; (c) Output Data; and (d) Benchmark Group. RESULTS: The combined effect of these components results in a system that enables speedy performance assessment of safety and health activities on construction sites. With the CSHM's built-in functions, important management decisions can theoretically be made and corrective actions can be taken before potential hazards turn into fatal or injurious occupational accidents. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: As such, the CSHM system will accelerate the monitoring and assessing of performance safety and health management tasks.     

北京城建集团强化安全管理控制重大伤亡事故的三点作法

介绍了北京城建集团总公司在安全管理方面的几点作法。几年前，因体制改变和安全管理方面的欠缺与不适应等原因，曾发生多起设备垮塌、人员伤亡事故。在血的教训中，从抓组织建设、教育、培训、法规措施入手，把安全工作层层分解、落到实处、奖罚分明，建立并完善了一整套安全管理模式。     

岩体声发射技术在金川二矿区的应用

岩体声发射技术是利用岩体变形破坏过程中产生应力波的强弱,来监测岩体的安全状态。针对金川二矿区地压大、岩体破碎的特点,金川公司先后在二矿区１１５０ｍ水平二期快进巷道、８０１采场、１４３８ｍ水平１２＃采场进路等处进行了应用岩体声发射预报矿岩体和充填体安全状态的试验。在对试验过程和监测结果进行分析的基础上,初步建立了金川二矿区矿岩体和充填体安全状态与声发射参数的近似关系,为实现金川二矿区安全管理的定量化进行了有益探索。     

施工承包企业安全成本及其核算的研究

依据施工承包企业安全管理的目标、特点和程序,提出安全成本的概念和构成以及保证性安全成本对损失性安全成本的直接影响.同时,借助施工安全成本与安全度的关系、提高安全技术工作的经济合理性、加速构建施工承包企业安全成本核算制度,优化施工承包企业的安全管理工作,并为提高企业经济效益及社会经济运行的安全度奠定基础.     

Exploring the perceived influence of safety management practices on project performance in the construction industry

Although safety management is known to be vital to construction projects, very few studies have solicited views from construction practitioners about their perceptions of which safety management practices (SMPs) are important to construction projects and related to project performance. An empirical study was undertaken in Hong Kong in order to shed more light on this topic. In the study, the importance levels of 15 popular SMPs and five project performance criteria were rated by 232 respondents. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted, and three SMP categories - information, process, and committees - were extracted. Of these three categories, safety management process was perceived by the construction practitioners as being the most important, followed by safety management information and committees. Moreover, the effect of the three SMP categories on a composite project performance variable was tested using hierarchical regression analysis. Results indicate that the “information” and “committees” categories were associated with project performance positively and significantly. One of the major conclusions of the study is that the construction industry has paid relatively less attention to safety management committees, which were empirically analyzed as having a strong perceived impact on project performance. In order to improve project performance, construction companies should promote the criticality of safety management committees.     

Safety culture: analysis of the causal relationships between its key dimensions

INTRODUCTION: Several fields are showing increasing interest in safety culture as a means of reducing accidents in the workplace. The literature shows that safety culture is a multidimensional concept. However, considerable confusion surrounds this concept, about which little consensus has been reached. METHOD: This study proposes a model for a positive safety culture and tests this on a sample of 455 Spanish companies, using the structural equation modeling statistical technique. RESULTS: Results show the important role of managers in the promotion of employees' safe behavior, both directly, through their attitudes and behaviors, and indirectly, by developing a safety management system. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: This paper identifies the key dimensions of safety culture. In addition, a measurement scale for the safety management system is validated. This will assist organizations in defining areas where they need to progress if they wish to improve their safety. Also, we stress that managers need to be wholly committed to and personally involved in safety activities, thereby conveying the importance the firm attaches to these issues.     

Organizational safety: which management practices are most effective in reducing employee injury rates?

PROBLEM: While several management practices have been cited as important components of safety programs, how much does each incrementally contribute to injury reduction? This study examined the degree to which six management practices frequently included in safety programs (management commitment, rewards, communication and feedback, selection, training, and participation) contributed to a safe work environment for hospital employees. METHOD: Participants were solicited via telephone to participate in a research study concerning hospital risk management. Sixty-two hospitals provided data concerning management practices and employee injuries. RESULTS: Overall, the management practices reliably predicted injury rates. A factor analysis performed on the management practices scale resulted in the development of six factor scales. A multiple regression performed on these factor scales found that proactive practices reliably predicted injury rates. Remedial measures acted as a suppressor variable. DISCUSSION: While most of the participating hospitals implemented reactive practices (fixing problems once they have occurred), what differentiated the hospitals with low injury rates was that they also employed proactive measures to prevent accidents. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The most effective step that hospitals can take is in the front-end hiring and training of new personnel. They should also ensure that the risk management position has a management-level classification. This study also demonstrated that training in itself is not adequate.     

What motivates employers to establish preventive management arrangements within supply chains?

This paper examines existing evidence as to the factors that prompt organisations to utilise supply chains to influence how health and safety is managed within them, with a view to shedding light on how far it serves to confirm or challenge the view that in general employers are unlikely to voluntarily pursue preventive management initiatives in the absence of external regulatory pressures. The analysis reveals a range of initiatives undertaken to utilise supply chains to support improvements in health and safety management, both at the level of individual organisations and via trade and industry bodies. It also, however, indicates that while supply chains can be used to improve how health and safety is managed within them, only in relatively narrowly defined circumstances will market-based business motivations alone serve to encourage the utilisation of this potential. It is further concluded that if policy-makers wish to see supply chains used more widely to improve standards of health and safety standards, then they need to do more than merely encourage voluntary action in this regard.