The Interface of Safety and Security; The Workplace

9/11 had a great impact on the development and occurrence of high publicity security-related incidents. One of the biggest impacts was that to public health, due to an increase in psychosocial issues. Cybersecurity incidents and processes of radicalization (either due to religious, political, or economic reasons) can have a direct result on the workplace as well as at the organizational level, which in turn can affect the worker. The aim of this chapter is to explain the main factors linking safety and security, creating a new area for workplace health and safety, that of the “interface of safety and security”.

Exploring the Interrelations Between Safety and Security: Research and Management Challenges

This chapter discusses some of the research and management challenges related to the safety and security nexus. In the first part, we address the conceptual connections between safety and security and discuss how different perspectives on how they come together allows for characterizing the complexity and ambivalence of their interrelations. We then go on to identify tradeoffs between safety and security and show that these exist both in theory and practice. Managing both safety and security means tradeoffs and power relations between internal entities and professionals, but also beyond its own boundaries since some vulnerabilities escape the organization’s scope. In the final part of the chapter, we argue that addressing the interrelations between safety and security poses managerial and research challenges that call for global approaches to apprehend the multiple facets of the issue. We explain that little has been done on how the global trends of the risk society bring with them unanticipated and “hidden” effects on organizations safety and security practices and that it is here, as a macro-global oriented approach to organizational safety and security research, that the two fields of safety and security confront a shared research agenda.

Safety and Security: Managerial Tensions and Synergies

The relationship between organizational safety and security is a conceptual and practical challenge. This paper focuses on the management aspects of this challenge. Its argument is that we have yet to parse out the full range of contradictory and complementary requirements of these two as managerial missions. Considering the requirements for high reliability management can provide a clarifying lens for sorting out the contradictions and complementarities. Some overlapping requirements from a high reliability perspective actually argue for an integration of the two missions within one managerial framework with enhancements for “higher resolution” reliability.

The Concepts of Risk, Safety, and Security: A Fundamental Exploration and Understanding of Similarities and Differences

When discussing the concepts of risk, safety, and security, people have an intuitive understanding of what these concepts mean and to a certain level, this understanding is universal. However, when delving into the meaning of the words and concepts in order to fully understand all their aspects, one is likely to fall into a semantic debate and ontological discussions. As such, this chapter explores the similarities and differences behind the perceptions to come to a fundamental understanding of the concepts, proposing a common semantic and ontological ground for safety and security science, introducing a definition of objectives as a central starting point in the study and management of risk, safety, and security.

Doing Safety … and then Security: Mixing Operational Challenges—Preparing to Be Surprised

Demands for organizational safety and security continue to increase. With incommensurable, legitimate operational requirements, tensions are to be expected. Variations in the sources of tensions are explored along with potential informal modes of accommodation. Analytical thought experiments are proposed. Prepare for surprise.

Safety Versus Security in Aviation

The two domains safety and security have traditionally been kept separated in aviation. While the first treats risks associated with aviation activities, the latter safeguards civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference. While national and international guidelines exist in addressing the installation of risk management for organizations having hazardous operations in aviation, an appropriate application of established assessment techniques, both quantitative and qualitative are crucial to both domains. For an incorrect hazard identification and the quantification of an adverse outcome may strongly affect both the level of protection and the investments required to reach it. The empirical example and data shown stem from safety risk assessments in HEMS (helicopter emergency medical service) flight operations. These flight operations use advanced instrument flight procedures in obstacle rich environments under low visibility conditions and are therefore a safety concern on the one hand. On the other hand, one analyzes security, whenever HEMS flights are operated in adverse weather conditions, having as a sole navigation source signals from a global navigation satellite constellation. A traditional safety risk assessment (Wipf in Aviation risk and safety management, Springer, p 108, 1) under these circumstances, considers only factors of human performance under technical failure conditions. A security analysis, however, should treat all forms of jamming, meaconing, and spoofing of the satellite signals and the adverse impact on the performance of the receiver to calculate a valid position. The chapter illustrates to which extent commonalities reign in both domains and where practices go separate ways.

User Safety and Security Experience: Innovation Through Design-Inspired Methods in Airports

An inextricable organizational dilemma characterizes risk management: when effective, risk management utilizes organizational resources to avoid superior damage. When not effective, it adds costs to unmanaged risks. This clashes with growing pressures on delivery of tangible value for end-users. Safety and security management aim at mitigating risks of safety or security nature. This chapter establishes a design-based framework to re-imagine the future of safety and security in an airport security environment. The chapter proposes a method for tangible, positive end-user value delivery. Our focus is on airport security where external users live a safety and security experience.

Divergence of Safety and Security

Safety and security have similar goals, to provide social wellness through risk control. Such similarity has led to views of professional convergence; however, the professions of safety and security are distinct. Distinction arises from variances in concept definition, risk drivers, body of knowledge, and professional practice. This chapter explored the professional synergies and tensions between safety and security professionals, using task-related bodies of knowledge. Findings suggest that safety and security only have commonalities at the overarching abstract level. Common knowledge does exist with categories of risk management and control; however, differences are explicit. In safety, risk management focuses on hazards management, whereas security focuses on threat mitigation. Safety theories consider health impacts and accidents, whereas security crime and crime prevention. Therefore, safety and security are diverging as distinct professions.

Security and Safety Culture—Dual or Distinct Phenomena?

The commission that investigated the terrorist attacks against the Algerian oil facility In Amenas concluded that the Norwegian petroleum company Statoil should establish a security culture distinct from its safety culture. Both are elements of organizational culture, so how should organizations relate to this new concept of security culture? This chapter explores the adequacy of the concept of security culture and explores whether these phenomena should be considered as a duality or separately. The adequacy of security culture is discussed in terms of how the concept is used in the In Amenas investigation report. Despite the lack of demarcation and operationalization of the security culture concept, we conclude, there is a need to further develop security culture as a theoretical and practical element. Security and safety culture should be understood separately, but in practical reality should not be treated as distinct.

Safety and Security Are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Whether safety and security overlap depends on how one defines each of these qualities. Definitions are man-made and the definer can include or exclude anything they want. The question really is what the definitions imply for the solution of the problems being defined and which definitions lead to the most effective achievement of the property or properties being defined. This chapter starts by proposing an inclusive definition that combines safety and security and then discusses the practical implications of this definition for solving our safety and security problems. These implications include (1) recognizing that safety and security are not equivalent to reliability, (2) broadening the focus in security from information security and keeping intruders out, and (3) creating new integrated analysis methods based on system theory.