Risk industries: conducting an organizational diagnostic by the search for pathogenic factors

This article echoes concerns about safety assessment in high-risk industries, and more specifically in the nuclear sector. It should be noted that the term "safety" here refers to "securing", in the broadest sense, the operation of processes and procedures in these industries. In particular, it does not refer to malicious intent.

Depending on the assessment topics addressed, organizational analysis either complements or argues the case for "classic" human factors analyses (activity analysis, identification of incident causes, application of ergonomic design principles, etc.), or constitutes an end in itself (safety organization, examination of skills management, etc.). These different assessment situations produce specific requirements, generating particular needs, both in terms of methodology (how to conduct the analysis? what to look for? what to look for?) and expected results (what level of detail? what level of understanding? what level of argumentation?).

The main question addressed in this article is that of defining an analytical approach, a methodological framework, which we will call "organizational diagnosis". Our motivation is primarily practical. The design of such an approach is driven by the need to produce a result that can be used in the context of a safety assessment.

Beyond a theorization of the organization, and the identification and definition of organizational factors in relation to risk management, it is the question of observables that is at the heart of our interrogations: what are the relevant data to collect in order to conduct an organizational diagnosis?

The first part of the article is devoted to presenting the basic concepts used in the approach we are presenting. In the second part, we propose a list of pathogenic organizational factors for which observables and objects of observation are indicated. The third section looks in greater depth at the interdependence of organizational factors, indicators and the diagnostic process. The article concludes with a summary and some concluding remarks.