Abstract

The goal of this project was to identify factors related to the strategic management of technological change that affect health and safety. The results indicate that only a few such factors exist, but that their effects are significant. Effective health and safety performance was frequently observed in small and dynamic companies with a generally proactive culture. Typically, these companies had adopted leading-edge technology such as computer-assisted design, employed a relatively autonomous workforce, and were more inclined to gather information on new technologies from multiple sources. The introduction of new technology appears to affect health and safety primarily by triggering broad-based changes in management culture, which in turn leads to the emergence of new prevention-oriented practices. It is thus technology-related management practices, rather than technological change itself, which is responsible for improvements in health and safety.