Implementing health and safety strategies for business sustainability: the use of management controls systems

Despite a growing body of literature on organisational health and safety, little is known about how safety systems can be strategically implemented. This study, therefore, explored how organisations effectively adopt, implement, and sustain health and safety strategies. It employed a longitudinal case study method and utilised Simons' (1995) levers of control framework as a management control system. It looked specifically at the implementation of a safety strategy at a Sri Lankan mining company during three different time periods, using data from several sources. Due to the company's long-standing culture and lack of guidance, it had initially employed a diagnostic approach to monitor and achieve organisational safety. However, in the later phases, the company implemented several structural reforms in order to establish a safety policy with greater authority, responsibility, accountability, and communication. The interactive and diagnostic levers acted as a catalyst for change in the organisational safety transformation. They have also impacted the belief lever and contributed to achieving the boundary lever's goals. This study reveals how successfully executing a safety strategy allows an organisation to improve its corporate image while reaping both financial and non-financial benefits for the company and its employees.