Defining the principles and practices of safety management in complex systems

Teemu Reiman, Elina Pietikäinen, Jouko Heikkilä

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter or book articleProfessional

    Abstract

    The way safety is managed in an organisation depends heavily on the beliefs and assumptions managers have concerning organisational behaviour and safety. The classical safety management paradigm typically views organisations as machine-like entities and emphasises procedural adherence, strict quality control, clear distribution of liabilities, and supervision of workers as the means to manage safety. Accidents and incidents are typically seen as caused by harmful variance in human activity, i.e., human or organisational errors. In modern complex organisations, such centralised control strategies are not enough to manage safety. Contrary to the traditional view, safety can be seen not only as the absence of something negative, but also as the presence of something positive.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationResearch highlights in safety and security
    Place of PublicationEspoo
    PublisherVTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
    Pages68-69
    ISBN (Electronic)978-951-38-8130-6
    ISBN (Print)978-951-38-8129-0
    Publication statusPublished - 2013
    MoE publication typeD2 Article in professional manuals or guides or professional information systems or text book material

    Publication series

    SeriesVTT Research Highlights
    Number10
    ISSN2242-1173

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Defining the principles and practices of safety management in complex systems'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this