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The present study examines the relationship between economic driving and road safety in trucking companies that have received support to work with economic driving, and a Reference sample of drivers from assumed average companies. The study is based on survey data (N = 366), and qualitative interviews (N = 26) with managers and employees. We first test the relationship between economic driving and traffic safety at the driver level (aim 1) and find a clear relationship: drivers with high scores in the fleet management systems, which record key aspects of economic and safe driving style, have a lower accident risk than drivers with lower scores. We then test the relationship between economic driving and traffic safety at the organizational level (aim 2), using the Eco Ladder for energy management approach to describe companies with different levels of measures to facilitate economic driving. Results indicate a lower accident risk for companies at the top level in the Eco Ladder for long-distance and regional transport (but not in distribution transport). This is due to the fact that the companies at the top of the Eco ladder have the most measures to facilitate economic driving, and thus the largest proportion of drivers with high scores in the fleet management system. We find relationships between focus on economy and safety at both driver, technology and company level. We also discuss potential conflicts between economic driving and traffic safety. Traffic safety effects of economic driving in trucking companies

Tor-Olav Nævestad, Rune Elvik, Vibeke Milch, Katrine Karlsen, Ross Phillips, Traffic safety in bus transport: An analysis of Norway’s largest transit authority’s contract requirements to bus companies, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, Volume 89, 2022, Pages 317-333, ISSN 1369-8478, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.07.004 (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369847822001541) The main objective of the study is to evaluate direct and indirect traffic safety consequences of the requirements that Norway’s largest transit authority (Ruter) sets in the contracts with bus companies. To assess the representativity of Ruter’s requirements and its consequences, the data focuses both on Ruter and transit authorities from other areas in Norway, serving a mix of urban and rural areas. The study is based on qualitative interviews (N = 18), a workshop, reviews of documents and a quantitative survey (N = 1012). The study indicates that transit authorities may have direct influence on traffic safety, especially if they set requirements that exceeds (inter) national legislation. Ruter does that when it comes to driver collision protection and blind zone warning systems. We also find indications of indirect impact on traffic safety through the contracts. This is firstly related to the requirements for punctuality and regularity, which we find to be related to drivers’ stress, driving style and accident involvement in our quantitative analysis. It is secondly related to environmental concerns, which motivate maintaining (and increasing) a high level of passengers. Interviewees said that this influences the types of buses specified in contracts (e.g. large high capacity buses), and their routes (e.g. in narrow streets, “where people live”). They also emphasized that roads and infrastructure, for example in Oslo, are poorly adapted to bus transport. In our quantitative analysis, we found that buses that are poorly adapted to the roads they are used on, and roads that are poorly adapted to bus transport were related to bus drivers’ reported stress and time pressure, which were related to risky driving style, which in turn was related to accidents. Based on the study, we developed several policy implications, that we believe also can be relevant for, and inspire other transit authorities. Ruter has applied several of these changes after our study (e.g. requiring ISO:39001 certification from the bus operators in the contracts, starting to develop a system to learn from accidents), and may thus stand out as a transit authority that other may learn from when it comes to management of traffic safety.

In the petroleum industry, incident investigations are an important means to understand and learn from undesired events. Whereas investigations in the petroleum industry typically focus on technical, human and organizational factors, there is a growing tendency towards outsourcing and more complex forms of organizations. Processes occurring at the interfaces between companies represent important influences that should be considered when investigating incidents. The current study aimed to gain a better understanding of the influence of interorganizational factors on offshore incidents on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Twenty-two investigation reports were analysed to identify interorganizational factors that contribute to incidents. Factors at the interorganizational level contribute to both occupational incidents and major near accidents. Four themes were identified: Ambiguities in roles and responsibilities between personnel from different companies, inadequate processes to ensure sufficient competence across interfaces, inadequate quality control routines across organizational interfaces and communication breakdowns between companies. The identified factors reflect underlying systemic deficiencies at the interorganizational level that contribute to obscure operational processes and at the same time reduce the effectiveness of existing safety barriers. Broadening the scope and incorporating factors at the interorganizational level when investigating undesired events is important in order to sufficiently learn from incidents.

A qualitative study was undertaken to explore how interorganizational complexity is managed on a petroleum-producing installation. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analysed by means of thematic analysis. Long-term organizational relations, management’s role in the field and worker involvement appear to facilitate high-quality work relations which, along with similar safety practices and philosophies across companies, appear to foster commitment to mutual operational goals and contribute to an open environment in which employees were inclined to report errors and problems. Still, due to the vast number of companies involved and the vast amount of information, coordinating work processes among companies was regarded as a constant challenge. Moreover, variations in experience among sharp-end workers from sub-contractor companies in periods of high activity and marked fluctuations were identified as a challenge. The quality of interorganizational work relations appears to have important implications for safety performance in this context, indicating that high-quality work relations across collaborating companies constitute an important component for achieving and sustaining safety. As research addressing relational factors in safety research to date has been sparse, more research is needed to further explore the safety functions of high-quality work relations. Theoretically, the current study contributes to extend the high-reliability organizations framework by highlighting the role of high-quality work relations as an element for achieving mindfulness. Sustaining safety across organizational boundaries: a qualitative study exploring how interorganizational complexity is managed on a petroleum-producing installation © The Author(s) 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Due to increased outsourcing in many industries, organizations are becoming larger and more interorganizationally complex and numerous operations now require cooperation among employees from different organizations. This paper presents a review of empirical literature addressing safety issues in complex interorganizational systems wherein the potential for major organizational accidents is present. Thematic analysis of the literature resulted in four main themes: economic pressures, disorganization, dilution of competence and organizational differences. The themes were viewed in light of different theoretical perspectives on organizational accident risk. The findings suggest that issues due to interorganizational complexity can hinder efficient safety management and thereby elevate the risk of organizational accidents. It is emphasized that further research is needed to better understand the implications of interorganizational complexity on safety management. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This is the authors' accepted and refereed manuscript to the article. Locked until 14 September 2018 due to copyright restrictions.

A recent cross-sectional study investigating an organizational choir-singing intervention called ‘Sound of Well-being’ (SOW) indicated health and organizational benefits, and a gender-specific pattern of participation and outcomes. In this study we investigate participation and effects in a short version of SOW. A total of 1100 employees of a Norwegian municipality were invited to participate in SOW. At baseline, 472 (42.9 per cent) employees filled in a questionnaire concerning demographics, personality, health, engagement, commitment and psychosocial work environment. A total of 312 (66.1 per cent) of these completed the same survey one to three weeks after SOW was finished. We found that female gender and extroversion were linked to participation in SOW. Women reported significant changes in engagement, self-perceived health and control, while men reported changes in job demands. Overall, participants reported an increase, while non-participants reported decrease on aforementioned variables. In terms of participation and effects of SOW, findings differed between professions, personality types and gender. In order to provide desirable alternatives to a wider group of employees, future interventions should include a variety of both receptive and creative activities.

Interventions at work are often directed towards solving specific problems in the work environment. They are typically located on one of three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. However, little research has been done on countervailing interventions, that is, proactive and health promoting interventions that focus on facilitating the positive aspects of the work situation and through this counteract the effects of negative situations and events. The intervention project “The sound of well-being” was a culturally based intervention to stimulate well-being for employees in the public sector. It was utilized to spread joy, increase motivation and unity, and to encourage work engagement and well-being in general. The project involved the forming of local choirs, rehearsals with and without professional musicians, mini concerts, choir battles, musical arrangements, sing back and ultimately a grand finale. In this chapter we investigate the utilization of countervailing interventions that take on a pro-active approach, aimed at promoting health and well-being in the workplace without being introduced as a response to an existing problem in the organization. It is our aim that this chapter will highlight the need for new ways of thinking concerning interventions, and explore new ways of developing cost efficient, yet effective interventions to promote employee health and well-being.