Citation

Luria G, Morag I. Accid. Anal. Prev. 2012; 45: 248-257.

Affiliation

Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, Department of Human Services, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.aap.2011.07.010

PMID

22269507

Abstract

"Management by walking around" (MBWA) is a practice that has aroused much interest in management science and practice. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate adaptation of this practice to safety management. We describe a three-year long case study that collected empirical data in which a modified MBWA was practiced in order to improve safety in a semiconductor fabrication facility. The main modification involved integrating an information system with the MBWA in order to create a practice that would generate safety leadership development and an organizational safety learning mechanism, while promoting employee safety participation. The results of the case study demonstrate that the SMBWA practice facilitated thousands of tours in which safety leadership behaviors were practiced by managers and by employees (employees performed five times as many tours as managers). The information system collected information about safety behaviors and safety conditions that could not otherwise be obtained. Thus, this study presents a new organizational safety practice SMBWA, and demonstrates the ways in which SMBWA may improve safety in organizations.

Language: en