Friday 24 July 08:15
- 09:45
Hall: 03 - Volta
Chair and Presenter:
Gracia Francisco Javier
Division: Division 1: Work and Organizational Psychology
High Reliability Organizations (HROs) are "organizations in which errors can have catastrophic consequences but which consistently seem to avoid such errors" (Roberts et al., 2005, p. 216), despite operating in environments where accidents might be expected due to risk factors and complexity (Perrow, 1984). High Reliability Theory emerged as a response to Normal Accidents Theory (Perrow, 1984), introduced by a group of researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, exactly 40 years ago (e.g., Rochlin, 1986). Surprisingly, HRO theory has remained on the periphery of mainstream organizational theory, even though organizations operating in less hazardous conditions could learn valuable lessons from HROs on improving safety performance and ensuring long-term reliability (Weick et al., 1999). This symposium provides a timely opportunity to reflect on four decades of HRO research, examining what we have learned and identifying key challenges for the future.
HROs are pioneers in safety management, demonstrating a sustained ability to prevent accidents and catastrophic failures in highly complex and high-risk environments. How do they achieve this level of reliability? What can organizations in high-risk industries learn from them to enhance safety performance? Moreover, what insights can organizations in lower-risk sectors gain from HROs to maintain reliable operations and sustain nearly error-free performance over extended periods? This symposium brings together five contributions that explore different perspectives on HROs and safety management
