Interdisciplinary research for occupational safety and health knowledge

Citation

Pink S, Waterson P, Dainty A, Cheyne A, Haslam R, Gibb A, Morgan J, Hartley R, Finneran A & Bust P (2016) Interdisciplinary research for occupational safety and health knowledge. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 14 (1), pp. 22-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2016.1235832

Abstract
In this article, we argue for an interdisciplinary and pluralistic account of how occupational safety and health (OSH) is enacted in practice, informed by a critical understanding of OSH management and flow knowledge in organizations. We compare how in human factors and ergonomics, organization studies, and safety science this question is approached through different theoretical ‘lenses’, and with different analytical consequences. These approaches work with different concepts (systems, practices and behaviours) that situate human agency, and possibilities for practical intervention differently. To demonstrate this we draw on interdisciplinary research in to ‘Management of OSH in Networked Systems’, showing how mobilizing the concept of knowledge through different disciplinary frameworks can have implications for understanding safe working in networked organizations.

Keywords
Occupational safety and health knowledge; interdisciplinarity; highly networked organizations

Journal
Policy and Practice in Health and Safety: Volume 14, Issue 1

People

Dr Jennie Morgan

Senior Lecturer in Heritage, History