TY - BOOK
T1 - Safety Culture Assurance and Improvement Methods in Complex Projects
T2 - Intermediate Report from the NKS-R SC_AIM
AU - Viitanen, Kaupo
AU - Gotcheva, Nadezhda
AU - Rollenhagen, Carl
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - A good safety culture is an essential ingredient for
ensuring safety in the nuclear industry. The predominant
approaches for safety culture are based on the assumption
of stable and relatively homogeneous organizations, which
often does not apply to contemporary project-oriented and
turbulent environments. This study aims to identify and
specify safety culture assurance and improvement methods
for project environments. A variety of approaches and
practical methods for safety culture improvement was
identified in the literature. Based on their apparent
objectives, the methods were classified into the
following groups: organizational structures, direct
behavioural modification, interaction and communication,
commitment and participation, training, promotion and
selection. The literature review did not reveal methods
intended specifically for project environments or
guidelines for tailoring the existing ones to suit
project environment. Further review of the literature
concerning project environments revealed a multitude of
project-specific challenges and boundary conditions in
the domains of time, team, task and context that can
potentially influence safety culture assurance and
improvement. Three empirical case studies in Nordic
nuclear industry organizations were conducted. In the
first case study, which focused on the use of safety
culture ambassador group, it was found that this method
can influence safety culture through multiple mechanisms
and that the flexibility of this method can potentially
rectify some of the challenges posed by project
environment, or even benefit from them. Another case
study focused on a safety-oriented project management
seminar and showed the potential of this method in
influencing safety culture through providing a forum for
dialogue between different stakeholders. Finally,
information exchange with experts provided additional
insight into the current challenges and opportunities of
safety culture work in projects. As a result of the
theoretical and empirical work, a preliminary framework
for evaluating the applicability of safety culture
assurance and improvement methods was developed.
AB - A good safety culture is an essential ingredient for
ensuring safety in the nuclear industry. The predominant
approaches for safety culture are based on the assumption
of stable and relatively homogeneous organizations, which
often does not apply to contemporary project-oriented and
turbulent environments. This study aims to identify and
specify safety culture assurance and improvement methods
for project environments. A variety of approaches and
practical methods for safety culture improvement was
identified in the literature. Based on their apparent
objectives, the methods were classified into the
following groups: organizational structures, direct
behavioural modification, interaction and communication,
commitment and participation, training, promotion and
selection. The literature review did not reveal methods
intended specifically for project environments or
guidelines for tailoring the existing ones to suit
project environment. Further review of the literature
concerning project environments revealed a multitude of
project-specific challenges and boundary conditions in
the domains of time, team, task and context that can
potentially influence safety culture assurance and
improvement. Three empirical case studies in Nordic
nuclear industry organizations were conducted. In the
first case study, which focused on the use of safety
culture ambassador group, it was found that this method
can influence safety culture through multiple mechanisms
and that the flexibility of this method can potentially
rectify some of the challenges posed by project
environment, or even benefit from them. Another case
study focused on a safety-oriented project management
seminar and showed the potential of this method in
influencing safety culture through providing a forum for
dialogue between different stakeholders. Finally,
information exchange with experts provided additional
insight into the current challenges and opportunities of
safety culture work in projects. As a result of the
theoretical and empirical work, a preliminary framework
for evaluating the applicability of safety culture
assurance and improvement methods was developed.
KW - safety culture
KW - project management
KW - organizational change
M3 - Report
SN - 978-87-7893-467-3
T3 - NKS Reports
BT - Safety Culture Assurance and Improvement Methods in Complex Projects
PB - Nordic Nuclear Safety Research NKS
ER -