The Self-Preservation of the Safety Department
All groups engage in ongoing efforts to ensure their survival through physiological, psychological, and social means. How is this for the typical safety department?
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Stability amidst change – The enduring identity of the safety department
Despite changes in the safety department's personnel, it maintains its identity due to the stability provided by its physical location, its social ties, and its spiritual/ideological resources, ranging from "zero harm" to "supporting normal work." Symbols, such as statements on safety posters and risk statistics or simplified measures such as injury frequency rates on (digital) billboards, further embody the sustainable nature of the safety department's identity.
Individual safety personnel are often valued primarily for their contribution to the sustainability of the safety department. They fulfill their personal duty to safety – whether as compliance personnel or as an organizational guide to safe production – and thereby maintain group cohesion.
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Specialization and unity in safety work
Specialized bodies or representatives arise from the division of safety work. This promotes interdependence, but can also bring challenges such as fragmentation. Delegating tasks to specialized safety committees or safety professionals with expertise can reduce friction and ensure consistent actions, as objective knowledge often leads to unity. But deep-seated divisions between factions and subjective opinions can still influence decisions.
Decision-making about safety risks often encounters internal resistance, which hinders unity and effective action. Collective action tends to gravitate towards the lowest common denominator because leaders cannot always bridge the gap with workers. While specialized committees can improve efficiency and unity, they may lack personal warmth and commitment, limiting broader individual involvement.
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Balancing safety bureaucracies with organizational needs
Yes, effective governance may require the formation of central bodies to manage risks. Effective governance requires strong organizational structures to counterbalance individual power. But rigid safety bureaucracies or abstract safety regulatory systems can conflict with broader organizational needs. The independence of these bureaucracies or regulatory systems must therefore be limited and connect.ed to the collective life of the organization; they should serve the work instead of becoming selfish entities. Furthermore, frequent leadership changes can support adaptability and new perspectives, preventing the formation of closed, autonomous bureaucracies.
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Stability versus Flexibility
The safety department's self-preservation can occur through stability or flexibility. Because reform efforts often lead to unintended consequences, sometimes even with radical reactions, stability is favored in departments with disparate elements or sharp internal disagreements.
Flexibility is essential for departments dealing with external threats. These departments favor youth and flexibility to accommodate new social forces and ideals. Therefore, they maintain their social entity through adaptability. Variability and conflict within the safety department cannot be avoided. Conflict can serve as an incentive for change and contributes to the cohesion of the department. Opposition, both external and internal, strengthens unity by highlighting shared interests and promoting solidarity.
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Conclusion
The social unit of the safety department maintains its strength despite constant changes, to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness in guiding the organization in preventing accidents and in supporting the organizational conditions to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
Acknowledgement
I was inspired to write this piece by reading Georg Simmel's book Sociology (1908).
Physical Safety | Sustainability | ESG | Industrial safety | Multisite | Risk Management| Fire prevention| Team developer | Management systems | Business continuity | ESRM Enterprise Security Risk Management
6 个月We, the safety people… …are always struggling for being an important part of the team. That’s true Interesting article and very precise Martijn Flinterman In my opinion this department in a perfect company a safety department should not exist. I mean in a perfect company where everybody follows rules, tools are well Maintained and every team member does what they have to do. Risks and incidents would be almost zero. But…. Companies and the world is far from being perfect. Companies still need and will need a safety department. Your article fits perfectly in the way that we, the safety people, are always struggling for not being considered the less important part of the team. Specially in an environment of companies being managed. Ore and more by financial cost cutting mindset.