Vision zero: from accident prevention to the promotion of health, safety and well-being at work

Zwetsloot, Gerard; Leka, Stavroula; Kines, Pete

Abstract

There is growing attention in industry for the Vision Zero strategy, which in terms of work-related health and safety is often labelled as Zero Accident Vision or Zero Harm. The consequences of a genuine commitment to Vision Zero for addressing health, safety and well-being and their synergies are discussed. The Vision Zero for work-related health, safety and well-being is based on the assumption that all accidents, harm and work-related diseases are preventable. Vision Zero for health, safety and well-being is then the ambition and commitment to create and ensure safe and healthy work and to prevent all accidents, harm and work-related diseases in order to achieve excellence in health, safety and well-being. Implementation of Vision Zero is a process – rather than a target, and healthy organizations make use of a wide range of options to facilitate this process. There is sufficient evidence that fatigue, stress and work organization factors are important determinants of safety behaviour and safety performance. Even with a focus on preventing accidents these additional factors should also be addressed. A relevant challenge is the integration of the Vision Zero into broader business policy and practice. There is a continued need more empirical research in this area.

Citation

Zwetsloot, G., Leka, S., & Kines, P. (in press). Vision zero: from accident prevention to the promotion of health, safety and well-being at work. Policy and Practice in Health and Safety, 15(2), https://doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1308701

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 16, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 7, 2017
• Deposit Date: May 16, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: May 16, 2017
• Journal: Policy and Practice in Health and Safety
• Print ISSN: 1477-3996
• Electronic ISSN: 1477-4003
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Open
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14773996.2017.1308701
• Keywords: Zero accidents, zero harm, psychosocial factors, safety culture, prevention culture
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/855187
• Publisher URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14773996.2017.1308701
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Policy and Practice in Health and Safety on 7 April 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14773996.2017.1308701.