Decision Making in Organizations: New Research and Improvement Strategies

It is well-known among thought leaders in the safety community that decision making is an essential element in the complex of factors that go into making a safe workplace. Less-well known, are two critically important things that were discovered through our research: (1) The most critical role in decision making is the one played by leadership—it is leadership, not the front-line workers, who make the most important safety decisions; and (2) Leadership decision making is pivotal to the understanding and prevention of serious incidents and fatalities (SIFs). In this presentation, we will examine the evidence supporting these statements, as well as the implications that follow for policy, strategy, and the role of senior leaders in SIF prevention. Over the past 20 years, there has been extensive research in psychology—more specifically in brain science—that has deepened our understanding of decision making. An entirely new field has developed, which examines the cognitive processes involved and identifies natural failures in the process that undermine sound decision making. Based on this body of research, Krause Bell Group's founding partners, Tom Krause and Kristen Bell, began to study its implications on safety performance improvement. Questions began to arise about how this science could be applied, particularly to the prevention of SIFs: How important is decision making? Who makes safety-related decisions? Which decisions are most important? Could safety be improved through development of decision-making skills and knowledge?