Safe Production Laboratory: the positive impact of human factors learning journeys on organizational culture

The VUCA/BANI world in which we live post-pandemic presents a series of challenges for organizations, which, in order to maintain their sustainability, must be able to learn, develop new knowledge, as well as adopt it in practice, learn to perform new tasks, in addition to continuing (or transforming) the old ones, more quickly and effectively according to Garvin (1998). In this context, industrial safety presents the great challenge of continuously evolving in risk management and consequently reducing occupational accidents. According to Daniellou (2010), occupational safety has changed, and the reinforcement of formalisms does not lead to a reduction in failures. To advance in this direction, experts concluded that it is necessary to direct efforts to the understanding of human activity, with the integration between human and organizational factors of security. This work consists of applied research, of exploratory nature whose data were approached in a qualitative and quantitative way, in the format of a case study with field research. The Safe Production Laboratory Project was created with the objective of promoting organizational learning to co-build a safer and more efficient work environment with people and for people. To this end, a series of learning journeys were developed, appropriate to the context of the organization, with an approach focused on concepts such as HOP – Human and Organizational Development, Andragogy, Human and Organizational Factors, among others. The results of the project showed positive impacts on the organizational culture, with significant improvements in the perception of workers on various aspects, which were also reflected in the frequency rate of incidents. The implementation of the Safe Production Laboratory was important for the promotion of organizational learning and the strengthening of occupational safety in the organization. To sustain and accelerate the progress made, stakeholder commitment to the application of learnings and program continuity is essential.