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Part 1: Background Information
1 Introduction
Triptych
This book forms the third part of a series aimed at strengthening organizations, inspired by insights from neuropsychology and safety science. The first book focuses on the individual and explores the theory behind safe work behavior, titled "Safe Work Behavior through Brain Based Safety" (2014). The second book, "The First-Line Supervisor and Safe Work Behavior" (2018), translates these insights into the role of direct supervisors, emphasizing ways to encourage safe behavior among employees. This third book shifts its focus to the role of (middle) management, exploring the interaction between individuals and the organization. Here, safety takes its place alongside quality, sustainability, and production.
Safety, Quality, Sustainability, and Production
Organizations often establish separate processes for safety, quality, and sustainability alongside production. At their inception, these processes usually have dedicated staff departments with their own management and responsibilities. This is necessary to foster learning, as the attention required for these areas could otherwise detract from the production process.
However, as these processes mature, the need for separate positioning diminishes, and integration becomes more effective. After integration, specific tools and the specialists managing them remain distinct. This allows line management to take on integrated responsibility, which can subsequently be delegated to lower organizational levels, such as team leaders.
Grip
Integrated responsibility revolves around managing and aligning processes to maintain grip. The goal is to be "in control." Deviations in processes—such as accidents, poor-quality products, pollution, or unsatisfactory outcomes—arise from losing grip on one or more subprocesses.
This book asserts that gaining grip on underlying processes fosters the growth of each subprocess. Organizational success is achieved when every subprocess is
equally well-managed. Organizations that consistently deliver strong business results year after year have their safety, quality, and sustainability in order.
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