Early warning signals noticed, but management doesn't act adequately or not at all: a brief analysis and direction of possible improvement

J Loss Prev Process Ind. 2021 May:70:104272. doi: 10.1016/j.jlp.2020.104272. Epub 2020 Sep 4.

Abstract

History has taught us that quite disastrous events with much human loss, injuries and asset damage could have been prevented or at least mitigated, if top management had recognized early warning signals in some form as urgent and had decided to take timely preventative measures. It turns out to be a rather common phenomenon in various sectors of life and some process industry examples are presented. The problem is further analyzed from a leadership point of view, from organizational structure and culture aspect, and what modern technology developments can help to improve the situation. Research in the latter directions is encouraged.

Keywords: Big data and analytics; High reliability organization; Leadership skills; Safety management.