Twenty-first International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations

Abstract

Decision-based practices is usually rejected by organizations with lower Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) culture that still emphasize procedures. Whenever accidents happened, the top two causes are procedures and awareness. The more accidents happened, the thicker the procedures and the more front-liners are micro managed by their supervisors which can lead to working in fear. Decision-based practice is where workers are trained and trusted to apply best practices to address unanticipated situations as well as routine activities. Procedures in this stage typically include information on underlying principles or objectives and the potential consequences of non-compliance. This approach focuses on empowering workers’ mindsets and continuously developing competencies related to this job. With the right mindset and competencies, the workers feel empowered and have independence, making decision whenever things goes wrong without fear. However, this level of worker independence is usually rejected by lower culture levels, as workers would not be trusted to make competent decisions. The goal is not to create pathological and reactive HSE culture that relies on fear to lead. Rather, the goal is to create a proactive and generative HSE culture where safety is everybody’s business and front-line workers have ownership and confidence doing their job safely and also understand that productivity comes with working safely.