Industrial safety in a changing world

 
Demographics, technological advances, globalization, industrial disaggregation, system complexity, interde pendence, etc. Between now and 2030–40, the megatrends affecting our world, our societies, and therefore  the world of at-risk industrial activities, will force us to revisit our approach to safety. What impact could these  developments have on HSE departments and, beyond that, organizations? What new production methods, new  organizations and new professional profiles will be required, against a background of anticipated technological change, a new generation of employees, and society’s expectations? Why, and how should at-risk industries  adapt their safety vision and actions to meet tomorrow’s challenges?  

Anticipating ‘future safety’ is, therefore, a priority for the industry in general, and for the FonCSI’s sponsors  in particular. That is why the FonCSI, in partnership with its sponsors (Airbus, EDF, EPSF, IRSN, Eurovia,  GRTgaz, SNCF and TotalEnergies), launched a strategic analysis on the theme. This short, but ambitious research program resulted in an international academic seminar in November 2020, a conference to present the  results to the Foundation’s partner organizations in July 2021, and an open access book published by Springer,  in the SpringerBriefs in Safety Management collection (Laroche, Bieder & Villena-López, 2022). 
 

This 10-point summary of the findings  brings the strategic analysis to a close, and paves the way for the  Foundation’s future work.

| Contents |

Part one: 7 safety challenges in a changing world 

1. The world’s increasing complexity, uncertainty and instability will impact safety
2. The unique characteristics of human operators will always contribute to safety
3. The ‘skills challenge’, including safety skills, will become significant
4. Differences in organizational  and generational culture  will test safety culture
5. More, and more diverse  safety stakeholders
6. The governance model, based on  the regulation-control-certification triad, will be revisited
7. A shake-up of the current dominant approach to safety, based on anticipation and prescription

Part two: 3 approaches to industrial safety between now and 2030–40 

1. Adopt a more open approach to safety
2. Move beyond current safety management and governance strategies
3. Ensure consistency between prescription, hierarchy and autonomy at the organizational level