Learning perspectives: a case study of a small, francophone health and safety committee

In the past, health and safety literature has concentrated on quantitative studies and focused on large companies. This qualitative study was conducted on a small, francophone enterprise in Eastern Ontario in order to determine the perspectives of health and safety committee members towards learning the concepts of safety. This case study covers a period of approximately one year and uses interviews, observations and examination of documents and artifacts as data sources. Data were analyzed following methods suggested by Spradley (1979). Committee members exhibited understanding of health and safety concepts in a number of idiosyncratic ways. These included actions or language dealing with such factors as levels of decision making, commitment, policies, training, etc. Each member appears to have developed an individual perspective towards safety information based upon the influences most pertinent to her/him. Thus, within the culture of the workplace there did not appear to be a general perspective towards learning about safety. In this setting, mentoring of the members towards taking the perspective of others appeared necessary. A cultural transformation needed to occur involving more inclusive and integrative perspectives of all concerned. Implications for consultants, management and safety committee members are identified.