Turning the Management of Safety Risk into a Business Function: The Challenge for Industrial Sociotechnical Systems in the 21st Century

Abstract

Since World War II, the history of safety in industrial sociotechnical systems has evolved through different paradigms. From the days of �operate-break-fix-operate�, through system safety, human factors, organizational factors and �cognition in the wild�, engineering and social disciplines have contributed to the safety of industrial systems that require close interaction between people and technology to achieve their production goals. Yet, regardless of paradigms, disciplines or industries, the hierarchical status of safety has remained largely unaltered: safety may be claimed to be the first priority of industrial systems, but boardrooms agendas seldom reflect that assertion. The contention in this chapter is that if safety is to elevate its status within other functions in industrial systems, if it is to become an out-of-the-ordinary topic on boardrooms agendas, it must contribute to the management of overall organizational risk, along the same lines and at the same level as the financial, legal, quality, human resources or any other business functions of the organization. The chapter provides a conceptual outline of the building blocks of a system that would contribute towards such an end. Central to this system is its capability to support an evidence-based allocation of prioritized safety resources, as well as the use of procedures and a language that parallels the procedures and the language of other business functions. The chapter builds on and mostly discusses the experience of the aviation industry, because it is the sector that has, until now, taken a lead in the direction proposed. Nevertheless, it is asserted that the notion of the management of safety as a business function is transversal to all industrial sociotechnical systems.