Are safety and operational effectiveness contradictory requirements: The roles of routines and relational coordination

Abstract

The relationship between managing a production system to be safe and managing it to be operationally effective is often described in conflicting terms, creating confusion for research and practice. Some view improving safety as separate and distinct from increasing operational effectiveness; they are contradictory requirements. Others emphasize that safety and effectiveness are complementary, and combine to enhance competitiveness. Recent research proposes that this confusion can be explained by examining the operational and safety routines used in production. Specifically, when an organization chooses to manage safety and operations in a coordinated fashion using a joint management system, safety and operational effectiveness are complementary. Yet, the contradiction between safety and operations can occur when the functions are managed as separate and unequal silos. This research tests this supposition using the theory of relational coordination. The results, based on a combination of survey and archival safety data from 198 manufacturing firms, show that safety and operational outcomes are indirectly related via routines and that plants that manage safety and operations using a joint management system make these priorities complementary and do not create trade‐offs between safety and operational performance.

Analysis of the relationship between the adoption of the OHSAS 18001 and business performance in different organizational contexts

“…Prior work has suggested that organizational complexity (Lo et al, 2014) and enhanced coordination between different management systems (Pagell et al, 2015) contribute to explain the performance of safety practices at the organizational level. In line with these studies, we explored the role of organizational and operational factors on the effectiveness of the OHSAS 18001.…”

“…The prioritization of safety practices creates a safer working environment which fulfils the workers' safety needs and allows them to pursue operational goals (Pagell et al, 2015). In manufacturing businesses-characterized by a greater process automation that makes more evident the negative consequences of work accidents-the adoption of the OHSAS 18001 enhances organizational performance through the timely identification and documentation of risks and the implementation of corrective actions (Lo et al, 2014).…”

Role of Information and Communication Technology in Green Supply Chain Implementation and Companies’ Performance

“…To collect information and validate the model in Figure 1, a designed questionnaire has been used, one of the most used methods to gather information easily and quickly [33][34][35], as well as a deep revision of literature, which allows us to identify research related to the integration and updating of IT, the implementation and the benefits of a GSC, all considered LTV. The literature revisions a rational validation of the questionnaire and identifies the items.…”

Temporal pacing of outcomes for improving patient flow: Design science research in a National Health Service hospital

“…Using DSR, we developed a set of interventions and mechanisms that incorporated a set of six, strong routines that fostered collaboration and coordination amongst diverse professional actors who were working towards a shared social goal of improving patient experience. Imison, Poteliakhoff, & Thompson, 2012;Pagell et al, 2015). The combined outcomes of our interventions and mechanisms include shortened waiting times in the ED, fewer cancellations of elective surgery, reduced lengths of stay, cost reductions, and increased workforce morale.…”

“…Notable in Silvester et al's (2014) work outlined in section 2.3 is the clear labeling of the practice to clearly communicate the expected outcome. Pagell et al (2015) argue that the root cause of variance in the enactment of a routine derives from a weak transmission of how a routine should be performed so that its performance aligns with its intended outcome. The importance of outcomespecificity is also captured in the work of Boyer et al (2012) as a foundation for nurturing a safety-enabling culture.…”