Improving safety, quality and efficiency through the management of emerging processes : The TenarisDalmine experience

Purpose – The aim of this contribution is to describe a new complexity‐science‐based approach for improving safety, quality and efficiency and the way it was implemented by TenarisDalmine. Design/methodology/approach – This methodology is called “a safety‐building community”. It consists of a safety‐behaviour social self‐construction process management method that makes it possible to significantly reduce the frequency and severity of on‐the‐job accidents and meet the company's commitment to safety. Findings – This new approach to spontaneous‐organisation management has generated remarkable effects. Improved spontaneous organisation promises to boost production quality and efficiency, two aspects which had fallen into a major slump when spontaneous organisation was not working properly. Originality/value – The paper examines through TenarisDalmine's experience a method that enabled the company to go beyond traditional behavioural approaches and increase the workers' commitment to safety, sharing the common zero‐accident goal.