Implementing health and safety strategies for business sustainability : The use of management controls systems

Journal article


Wijesinghe, Dinushi, Jayakumar, Vijayajothy, Gunarathne, Nuwan and Samudrage, Dileepa. (2023). Implementing health and safety strategies for business sustainability : The use of management controls systems. Safety Science. 164, pp. 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106183
AuthorsWijesinghe, Dinushi, Jayakumar, Vijayajothy, Gunarathne, Nuwan and Samudrage, Dileepa
Abstract

Despite a growing body of literature on organisational health and safety, little is known about how safety systems can be strategically implemented. This study, therefore, explored how organisations effectively adopt, implement, and sustain health and safety strategies. It employed a longitudinal case study method and utilised Simons' (1995) levers of control framework as a management control system. It looked specifically at the implementation of a safety strategy at a Sri Lankan mining company during three different time periods, using data from several sources. Due to the company's long-standing culture and lack of guidance, it had initially employed a diagnostic approach to monitor and achieve organisational safety. However, in the later phases, the company implemented several structural reforms in order to establish a safety policy with greater authority, responsibility, accountability, and communication. The interactive and diagnostic levers acted as a catalyst for change in the organisational safety transformation. They have also impacted the belief lever and contributed to achieving the boundary lever's goals. This study reveals how successfully executing a safety strategy allows an organisation to improve its corporate image while reaping both financial and non-financial benefits for the company and its employees.

KeywordsHealth and safety; Longitudinal case study ; Management controls ; Mining Safety strategy; Sri Lanka
Year01 Jan 2023
JournalSafety Science
Journal citation164, pp. 1-14
PublisherElsevier Science BV
ISSN0925-7535
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2023.106183
Web address (URL)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092575352300125X?via%3Dihub
Open accessPublished as non-open access
Research or scholarlyResearch
Page range1-14
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online16 May 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted21 Apr 2023
Deposited01 Oct 2024
Additional information

© 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Place of publicationNetherlands
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