Tor-Olav Nævestad

Mapping Research on Culture and Safety in High-Risk Organizations: Arguments for a Sociotechnical Understanding of Safety Culture

In this paper, I suggest that a major challenge of much safety culture research is that it runs the risk of neglecting the organizational, meso level. Consequentially, it often seems to lack a proper conceptualization of the relationship between culture, technology and structure in high-risk organizations. High-reliability organizations (HRO) research, on the other hand, focuses on this relationship. The aim of the paper is to develop an understanding of safety culture that incorporates some of the HRO approachs insights regarding the relationship between safety, culture, technology and structure. I outline and discuss the research on safety culture and the HRO approachs treatment of culture and safety, before I suggest a sociotechnical understanding of safety culture.

How Can the Safety Culture Perspective be Applied to Road Traffic

Recent research suggests that the concept of safety culture, specified as traffic safety culture, may have great potential for improving traffic safety. However, as the safety culture concept has been traditionally applied to an organization and its members, the main aim of this paper is to examine how the concept can be applied to road traffic. This is largely a question of which analytical unit the traffic safety culture concept could be applied to. This paper examines three alternatives: (1) local communities, (2) nations, and (3) peer groups. These alternatives are evaluated against four criteria: (A) Is it well defined? (B) Can it be used to explain traffic safety behaviour? (C) Is it possible to influence? (D) Does it provide new insights into traffic safety problems? This paper concludes that while the local community alternative and national alternative appear too heterogeneous, the peer group alternative provides what seems to be a new and promising basis for targeted traffic safety interventions. The discussion indicates, however, issues that need to be examined in further research.

Modelling the effects of a large-scale safety culture programme: a combined qualitative and quantitative approach

In many industries it has become common to implement safety programmes aimed at improving safety behaviour and culture; however, in general little research has been conducted to understand the dynamics and causality of such programmes. This study sought to explore the effects of a large‐scale safety programme implemented by a Norwegian petroleum company using a combined methodological approach; results from qualitative interviews and fieldworks were used to develop a hypothetical structural model tested on questionnaire data (n = 1221) using structural equation modelling (SEM). Five theoretical concepts were validated before they were included in a hypothetical structural model: (1) participation in a two‐day kickoff; (2) personal programme commitment; (3) effectiveness of programme implementation; (4) safety behaviour change; and (5) safety culture change. SEM indicated that the suggested structural model fitted the data, but two of the hypothesised structures were not significantly supported. Based on this, a modified version of the model was developed and estimated, resulting in a more robust model in which all hypothesised influences were supported. Results are discussed in light of the qualitative and quantitative results, programme characteristics, and previous research. This study demonstrates the significance of developing worker commitment to programme implementation and the importance of a comprehensive implementation of programme activities to increase the likelihood of cultural and behavioural effects concerning safety.

Safety outcomes of internationalization of domestic road haulage: a review of the literature

Abstract The European Union (EU) promotes gradual lifting of restrictions on foreign hauliers involved in domestic road transport of goods (cabotage), and a major deregulation was scheduled in 2014. Due to complaints from several member states facing competition from new EU-countries with lower labour costs, this process was postponed until 2015. An important aspect related to such a deregulatory reform includes potential consequences for transport safety and accident risk factors. The main aims of the current paper are therefore to examine the potential transport safety outcomes of increasing internationalization of domestic road haulage, and to examine potential accident risk factors of foreign hauliers. This is done by reviewing the research literature. This paper shows that the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) accident risk varies with a factor of up to 10 in European countries, and that the accident risk of foreign HGVs is approximately two times higher than that of domestic HGVs in the studied European countries. The paper points to several risk factors and concludes that better data on accident risk and risk factors must be gathered in order to enable European authorities to correctly analyse and respond to this important traffic safety challenge.

The safety ladder: developing an evidence-based safety management strategy for small road transport companies

ABSTRACT Traffic accidents account for between 20% and 40% of work-related accidents in industrial countries, and research indicates that road transport companies often have little focus on organisational safety management (OSM). There is thus a huge and largely untapped road safety potential in improving the safety of people who drive in their work, by focusing on OSM. Road transport companies in European countries are often small, however, with limited resources in terms of time, financial resources and competence on road safety. The main aim of the present article is therefore to develop an OSM strategy for small road transport companies. Based on a systematic literature review, taking Norwegian research as its point of departure, the article concludes that four measures seem to be most realistic for small goods-transport businesses, and that these measures seem to have the greatest safety potential. These four measures can be arranged on a ladder, where businesses start at the lowest and most basic level, before proceeding to the next step. While our stepwise safety-ladder approach has not been validated, it is expected that further research would confirm the value of the strategy proposed.