Why Corporates Meet Incidents Regularly - Half-Hearted Application of Behavioural Science Intervention

Abstract

Total safety culture calls for multiple actions together at multiple levels of the organisation, and when some actions or levels are missing, then safety becomes a matter of chance. Moreover, when organisations are not implementing behavioural science intervention systematically, then it is ‘Bhagwan Barose Surksha’. Total safety culture is multi-factorial and a pretty long-term approach. Safety culture is not a syllabus, and not that everyone can become its mentor. Hence requires a continued patience, and that most organisations are not able to adopt for many reasons, and the incidents continue, not that they do not put efforts. Ten factors that push organisations keep having incidents are the following. Organisations must consider a holistic safety culture framework. Possibility of achieving and sustaining zero-harm for long-term is higher when employees adopt safe behaviour in their personal lives. Almost all at-risk behaviours that triggered incidents did not occur first time. Engineers force workers onsite to do work without safety, and create safety emergencies. Most organisations do not monitor safety culture index. Organisations that meet incidents regularly are the ones who wish to complete work assignments faster without much safety planning. Organisations define safety hotspots but do not address them ethically in terms of safety science and risk science. Organisations (continue having incidents) that opt for only training but not continued mentoring. Organisations that address individual at-risk behaviours, but not organisational behaviours. Organisations that did not increase quality and number of observers for each area. Organisations that did not pursue positive and planned safety culture over the years. This paper explored reflections of the Indian corporate culture on why they keep having incidents regularly. The sample included 32 site locations and interactions with 430 managers and 529 contractors staff in Indian locations. Implications and recommendations are discussed using in-depth qualitative data. The total safety culture is so much complex that mostly the organisational approach is Behaviour Based but partly it is ‘Bhagwan Barose Surksha’ which becomes the underlying reason pushing corporates towards incidents regularly or occasionally.

Keywords: Safety, Culture, Corporate, Behaviour, BBS, Incidents

View PDF