The analysis of major industrial accidents in safe systems reveals the impact of pathogenic factors whose importance was not recognized or understood by the organisation. People who had not made sense of information, even though it was available, did not realize that their representation was no longer adapted to reality.
Karl Weick, the famous American psycho-sociologist, calls this search for meaning in ambiguous situations sensemaking. It is the subject of this case-study based Cahier de la sécurité industrielle, which examines the difficulties people experience in detecting signs of a deterioration in safety, reporting anomalies, and improvising appropriately in unexpected situations.
The factors that influence sensemaking are analysed under four headings:
- individual factors,
- characteristics of the work situation,
- factors related to the work group,
- impact of the organisational processes.
Objectives
To identify factors which favour or hinder sensemaking.
To define the organisational principles aimed at countering negative phenomena related to the loss of of meaning in a risky situation.
About the authors
Hervé Laroche is a Professor in the Department of Strategy, Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources at ESCP-Europe. His work explores strategic decisions in companies, decision in risky situations and organisational reliability issues. Véronique Steyer, PhD in Management Science, is a Professor at ISG International Business School. She specialises in the theory of organisations, organisational behaviour and the sociology of risk.