Omständigheter på ett kärnkraftverk, organisering av risk och institutionalisering av säkerhet
(1998) In Lund Studies in Economics and Management 45.- Abstract
- Risk societies are made of risk organizations. This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a risk organization, of a nuclear power plant. Risk organizations have larger demands on their organization than traditional companies have. Risk societies, to come or already present, have new political agendas. Within a risk society the major task is to reduce and distribute the negative side effects of industrial production, not to increase and distribute well-fare in society, as it has been in an industrial society. This is a study of a risk organization claimed to produce these negative side effects. The title Circumstances in a nuclear power plant, organization of risk and institutionalization of safety relates to specific occasions in the... (More)
- Risk societies are made of risk organizations. This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a risk organization, of a nuclear power plant. Risk organizations have larger demands on their organization than traditional companies have. Risk societies, to come or already present, have new political agendas. Within a risk society the major task is to reduce and distribute the negative side effects of industrial production, not to increase and distribute well-fare in society, as it has been in an industrial society. This is a study of a risk organization claimed to produce these negative side effects. The title Circumstances in a nuclear power plant, organization of risk and institutionalization of safety relates to specific occasions in the organization. The branch concept, circumstances, defines ‘situations beyond normal performance’, which are to be reported to the nuclear authorities. These circumstances are rarely endangering men or material, but given the nature of nuclear power production, they have a potential to escalate to something larger. This dissertation focuses on how the organization deals with these issues and reproduces safety as something taken-for-granted. The material is gathered using participant observation of different functions in the plant. The work is based on narration of situations, meetings, interviews, and small talk, e t c, in every-day-interaction. The dissertation describes how business-as-usual produce safety. It is a description of how values, norms, attitudes, ideas, knowledge are produced and reproduced. These issues are discussed mainly in an institutional theory perspective. What has become apparent is that functions governed by routines and instructions tend to be more flexible and reflecting than those dealing with new tasks, such as problem solving projects. Thus, these new projects tend to reproduce earlier established procedures. Through the narration of the various functions of the plant joined with theoretical discussions, different themes have been found describing how the organization deals with difficulties and how it reproduces it normal practice. The themes are gathered under safety is a fine art. Legitimization of the organization was related to the plant’s capacity to present an articulated rationality, while safety was in large produced by tacit knowledge. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Ofärd är samhällsrisker. Riskorganisationer kan definieras som organisationer vilka genererar större samhällsrisker än traditionellt företagande. Dessa organisationer hanterar en mer omfattande kravbild än gängse företagande, en kravbild som innefattar risker för människor utanför själva verksamheten. Riskorganisationer är en del av den värdeförädling som krävs för att finansiera välfärdsproduktionen i samhället. Omständigheter, huvudordet i titeln, var ett lokalt etablerat begrepp på kärnkraftverket. Rapporterbara omständigheter var händelser i verksamheten värda att uppmärksamma och som skulle rapporteras. Säkerhet är naturligt, en självklar norm, i riskorganisationer eftersom organisationer... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Ofärd är samhällsrisker. Riskorganisationer kan definieras som organisationer vilka genererar större samhällsrisker än traditionellt företagande. Dessa organisationer hanterar en mer omfattande kravbild än gängse företagande, en kravbild som innefattar risker för människor utanför själva verksamheten. Riskorganisationer är en del av den värdeförädling som krävs för att finansiera välfärdsproduktionen i samhället. Omständigheter, huvudordet i titeln, var ett lokalt etablerat begrepp på kärnkraftverket. Rapporterbara omständigheter var händelser i verksamheten värda att uppmärksamma och som skulle rapporteras. Säkerhet är naturligt, en självklar norm, i riskorganisationer eftersom organisationer med riskabel verksamhet baseras på säkerhetsmedvetande. Säkerhet var också begreppet som användes på kärnkraft-verket, inte risk. Detta är en företagsetnografi av ett kärnkraftverk Den fokuserar på hur organisationen hanterar risker och hur den institutionaliserar säkerhet. Ansatsen är att beskriva omständigheter som sätter normer för flexibilitet och kontroll på ett kärnkraftverk. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/18835
- author
- Wessblad, Hans LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Glimnell, Hans, Humanteknologi, Gbg Univ.
- organization
- publishing date
- 1998
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Organizational science, institutional theory, ethnography, risk society, tacit knowledge, high reliability organizations, risk technology, risk organization, safety production, Organisationsteori
- in
- Lund Studies in Economics and Management
- volume
- 45
- pages
- 298 pages
- publisher
- Lund University Press
- defense location
- Crafoordsalen, Ekonomicentrum
- defense date
- 1999-01-15 13:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUSADG/SAEK--98/1045--SE
- ISSN
- 0284-5075
- ISBN
- 91-7966-549-7
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c959f87a-83c0-4a55-a37e-a48f8a6d2ed6 (old id 18835)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 17:13:23
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 18:58:50
@phdthesis{c959f87a-83c0-4a55-a37e-a48f8a6d2ed6,
abstract = {{Risk societies are made of risk organizations. This dissertation is an ethnographic study of a risk organization, of a nuclear power plant. Risk organizations have larger demands on their organization than traditional companies have. Risk societies, to come or already present, have new political agendas. Within a risk society the major task is to reduce and distribute the negative side effects of industrial production, not to increase and distribute well-fare in society, as it has been in an industrial society. This is a study of a risk organization claimed to produce these negative side effects. The title Circumstances in a nuclear power plant, organization of risk and institutionalization of safety relates to specific occasions in the organization. The branch concept, circumstances, defines ‘situations beyond normal performance’, which are to be reported to the nuclear authorities. These circumstances are rarely endangering men or material, but given the nature of nuclear power production, they have a potential to escalate to something larger. This dissertation focuses on how the organization deals with these issues and reproduces safety as something taken-for-granted. The material is gathered using participant observation of different functions in the plant. The work is based on narration of situations, meetings, interviews, and small talk, e t c, in every-day-interaction. The dissertation describes how business-as-usual produce safety. It is a description of how values, norms, attitudes, ideas, knowledge are produced and reproduced. These issues are discussed mainly in an institutional theory perspective. What has become apparent is that functions governed by routines and instructions tend to be more flexible and reflecting than those dealing with new tasks, such as problem solving projects. Thus, these new projects tend to reproduce earlier established procedures. Through the narration of the various functions of the plant joined with theoretical discussions, different themes have been found describing how the organization deals with difficulties and how it reproduces it normal practice. The themes are gathered under safety is a fine art. Legitimization of the organization was related to the plant’s capacity to present an articulated rationality, while safety was in large produced by tacit knowledge.}},
author = {{Wessblad, Hans}},
isbn = {{91-7966-549-7}},
issn = {{0284-5075}},
keywords = {{Organizational science; institutional theory; ethnography; risk society; tacit knowledge; high reliability organizations; risk technology; risk organization; safety production; Organisationsteori}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund University Press}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in Economics and Management}},
title = {{Omständigheter på ett kärnkraftverk, organisering av risk och institutionalisering av säkerhet}},
volume = {{45}},
year = {{1998}},
}