New Possibilities for development of the internal health and safety organisation

Research from several countries indicates that the internal health and safety organisation in most companies is placed in an appendix position. A possibility for developing a stronger and more effective health and safety organisation is to introduce learning. This approach has been applied in a Danish network project with eleven companies.

The results indicate that health and safety managers and safety representatives have difficulties in fulfilling the role as change agents in mastering such a development project. Only three of the eleven companies turned out to be able to implement successful changes. The more successful outcomes seem to result from abilities among the change agents to handle a complex and incalculable project.

On the basis of the case studies, it has been possible to deduce some of the competencies needed to fulfil this role. It is for example necessary to be able to identify opportunities for change, es-tablish a sustainable problem definition, and build coalitions. An amoeba model for this type of development project is suggested.