TY - CHAP
T1 - Safety management and organisatorial learning (MANOR)
T2 - MANOR summary report
AU - Reiman, Teemu
PY - 2009
Y1 - 2009
N2 - Nuclear power plants are complex socio-technical systems.
In addition to complexity of technology, overall system
complexity arises from the organizing of work, standard
operating procedures, decision-making routines and daily
work practices. Work is specialised, meaning that tasks
require special know-how which takes long to acquire. The
chain of operations involves many different parties and
technical fields. The daily work in is increasingly
carried out through various technologies, information
systems and electronic tools. This has led to decrease in
craftwork where people were able to immediately see the
results of their work.
In addition to inherent complexity, different kinds of
internal and external changes bring new challenges for
safety management. For example, organizations keep
introducing new technology and upgrading or replacing old
technology. Technological changes influence the social
aspects of work, such as information flow, collaboration
and power structures. Different kinds of business
arrangements, such as mergers, outsourcing or
privatisation, also have a heavy impact on social matters
and culture. The exact nature of the impact is often
difficult to anticipate and the safety consequences of
organizational changes are challenging to manage [8]. Due
to the complexities of the system the boundaries of safe
activity are becoming harder and harder to perceive. At
the same time economic pressures and strive for
efficiency push organizations to operate closer to the
boundaries and shrink unnecessary slack. Over time,
organizations can drift into failure [2].
In the recent years safety researchers have started to
develop new approaches for analysing and supporting human
and organizational reliability and the overall safety of
the system. The current state-of-the-art safety science
strives towards more realistic and comprehensive view on
organizational activity. Humans are not only sources of
failures, but also the creators of safety and
reliability, as well as the guardians and last line of
defence against the unruly technology. Sociotechnical
systems have their own internal logics of functioning,
which must be understood if safety is sought to be
managed and a sound safety culture created. The
understanding of the dynamics of the sociotechnical
system is the key to understanding system safety.
AB - Nuclear power plants are complex socio-technical systems.
In addition to complexity of technology, overall system
complexity arises from the organizing of work, standard
operating procedures, decision-making routines and daily
work practices. Work is specialised, meaning that tasks
require special know-how which takes long to acquire. The
chain of operations involves many different parties and
technical fields. The daily work in is increasingly
carried out through various technologies, information
systems and electronic tools. This has led to decrease in
craftwork where people were able to immediately see the
results of their work.
In addition to inherent complexity, different kinds of
internal and external changes bring new challenges for
safety management. For example, organizations keep
introducing new technology and upgrading or replacing old
technology. Technological changes influence the social
aspects of work, such as information flow, collaboration
and power structures. Different kinds of business
arrangements, such as mergers, outsourcing or
privatisation, also have a heavy impact on social matters
and culture. The exact nature of the impact is often
difficult to anticipate and the safety consequences of
organizational changes are challenging to manage [8]. Due
to the complexities of the system the boundaries of safe
activity are becoming harder and harder to perceive. At
the same time economic pressures and strive for
efficiency push organizations to operate closer to the
boundaries and shrink unnecessary slack. Over time,
organizations can drift into failure [2].
In the recent years safety researchers have started to
develop new approaches for analysing and supporting human
and organizational reliability and the overall safety of
the system. The current state-of-the-art safety science
strives towards more realistic and comprehensive view on
organizational activity. Humans are not only sources of
failures, but also the creators of safety and
reliability, as well as the guardians and last line of
defence against the unruly technology. Sociotechnical
systems have their own internal logics of functioning,
which must be understood if safety is sought to be
managed and a sound safety culture created. The
understanding of the dynamics of the sociotechnical
system is the key to understanding system safety.
M3 - Chapter or book article
SN - 978-951-38-7266-3
SN - 978-951-38-7267-0
T3 - VTT Tiedotteita - Research Notes
SP - 23
EP - 31
BT - SAFIR2010: The Finnish Research Programme on Nuclear Power Plant Safety 2007-2010
PB - VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
CY - Espoo
ER -