Mastering the simplification process

Why is this theme important?

In industrial companies, one observation keeps recurring: bureaucratization is on the rise. The field of safety is no exception: procedures keep piling up, controls are multiplying, and formal systems are becoming increasingly cumbersome, among other things. Many of these arrangements are often introduced to meet higher regulatory requirements, but they ultimately weigh heavily on day to day operations.

Beyond administrative costs and time lost, this growing complexity is associated with other negative effects for those involved: overload, a sense of loss of meaning, the feeling that the work being done is pointless, and a weakening of the sense of responsibility when safety is reduced to abstract mechanisms. 

Even more concerning, these arrangements may be disconnected from the realities of work and, paradoxically, undermine the very safety objectives they are meant to serve.

Considering this observation, simplification appears self evident, but it raises a few questions: should the number of rules and controls be reduced, should changes be made to the organization of management systems, or should certain work and steering practices be transformed? At what level should action be taken? And above all, how can we ensure that simplifying does not result in a decline in safety performance? 

These practical and strategic questions justify addressing the issue in a structured way through a strategic analysis.