Safety Culture in Extensive Projects
Safety Culture in Extensive
A week before the interview we sent the questions to the interview person in order to provide a possibility for preparation of the answers. In spite of this measure the interview material was too extensive and after the interview we also understood that the questions were too leading and did not give the interview person a possibility to speak freely about the subject. Therefore we rewrote the questions and made them less leading and less extensive.
During the interviews we both recorded and took notes. Afterwards we listened to the interviews and wrote down what was said but not word-for-word. After that we summarized the texts and made them more readable before we sent the texts to the interview persons for their approval. By doing this we minimized the possibility for misinterpretations.
RESULTS
The results consist of one general part that should be present throughout the whole project life cycle and one part directed to each single phase in the project life cycle. The partition of a project into different project phases is based on A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge [5].
The phases are Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and controlling, and Closing (IPEMC).
The following results are just a selection of the complete results stated in the main report.
General results-Risk management
The top management’s commitment is essential for the risk management in a project organization, just as in every organization.
Without the top management’s support the risk management process will be unsuccessful.
Furthermore, it is important for a project organization to create a database of risks. Such a database is useful for documentation and evaluation of the project’s risks, and it is convenient to connect the database to the timetable. Regarding risk management it is also important that the person responsible for an activity also is responsible for managing the risks connected to it
General results
The quality of the project will be enhanced if the contractors that are hired are given a chance to make a profit.
It is important to constantly keep the safety message present, especially at the end of a project when it is quite easy to relax and accidents will happen as a consequence of this.
The project management must be committed to and have an interest in the work of all project team members. However, this commitment and interest must not appear through activities of a police character. The project management also have to be visible in the project organization and serve as a role model for the personnel.
A sustainable reporting culture has to be based on a no blame concept, although the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior has to be well-known by all staff. If a project affects a line organization it has to be in the line organization’s interest to receive reports on incidents and near misses.
Results according to IPEMC Initiating
The orderer of a project must have a commitment to safety from the initial phase of a project. In order to achieve good conditions, clear requirements of safety and working environment have to be included already when the orderer request offers and bids from sellers and contractors.
Planning
In the beginning of the planning phase the project manager should gather the
Safety Culture in Extensive Projects
management team to discuss all possibilities and challenges of the project. It is convenient to arrange such a gathering in a private and social environment since it is beneficial to the cooperation and communication between the management team members.
Executing
During the executing phase of a project it is important to support external resources such as contractors. Contractors possess a lot of expertise but they sometimes need help to make use of this expertise if the project environment is complex.
Campaigns with alternating focuses are useful tools in projects with long-term executing phases.
A campaign with an alternating focus works as a forum for the most important activity at a specific occasion.
Monitoring and controlling
Internal audits are useful to control the work of the project management team. Internal audits should be carried out by persons who have certain knowledge about the project, although they should not be fully involved.
Closing
After a project has been finished it is of great importance to learn from the project. This includes positive experiences as well as negative ones. A concluding workshop is probably a better way to learn from the project than a written and extensive final report.
DISCUSSION
The following notes discuss the usefulness of the report and its results. Literature about safety culture is mainly directed to line organizations, not dynamic and temporary projects with a high staff turnover. Thus, it is difficult to connect the practical results to the theory about safety culture.
Furthermore, we think that safety culture as a term is not fully well-known in all line of businesses and therefore the idea of the safety culture concept and its expressions might have differed between us and the interview persons. There is a possibility that we and the interview persons have talked about the same things in different words, and vice versa.
REFERENCES:
[1] Ringhals, 2005. Vår verksamhet » Om Ringhals.
[Online] Available at:
http://www.ringhals.se/index.asp?ItemID=1290, 2005-11-18.
[2] INSAG 15, 2002. Key Practical Issues in Strengthening Safety Culture INSAG Series No.
15, International Nuclear Safety Advisory Group, IAEA, Wien, Österrike, ISBN 92-0-112202-0.
[3] Weick, K.E., Sutcliffe, K.M., 2001. Managing the Unexpected: Assuring High Performance in an Age of Complexity, University of Michigan Business School management series, Jossey-Bass, San Fransisco, CA, USA, ISBN 0-7879-5627-9.
[4] Langlet, P., Wärneryd. B., 1985. Att fråga - Om frågekonstruktion vid intervju- och enkätundersökningar, Statistiska Centralbyrån, Stockholm, ISBN 91-38-05283-0.
[5] Duncan, W.R., 1996. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project Management Institute, Upper Darby, USA, ISBN 1-880410-12-5.
Risk- and vulnerability analyses as a basis for municipal planning for managing ectraordinary events