The Industrial Psychology Group of the University of Aberdeen will host a Scientific Seminar sponsored by the British Psychological Society tomorrow, Tuesday 21 May to examine the influence of managers on industrial safety.
The Scientific Seminar will consider the role of site managers' and senior managers' leadership styles in organisational safety performance. It will also review methods of examining senior managers' perceptions and behaviours in relation to the organisational safety culture. Management commitment to safety is recognised as a fundamental component of an organisation's safety culture in both regulatory advice (HSE, 1999) and major accident analyses, for example Herald of Free Enterprise, Piper Alpha. Modelling studies of safety climate surveys are beginning to confirm the prime importance of management factors on safety outcomes. However while there have been a number of psychological studies examining the impact of supervisors on safety culture, the contribution of site managers and senior managers has received less attention.
Professor John Carroll, Sloan Management School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology will attend as the keynote speaker. He will discuss his work on the management of safety, drawing on his recent research with the nuclear power industry and the health care sector. A number of short papers will be presented by European psychologists working on management and safety culture in the energy sector, manufacturing industry, and transportation.