LinköpingUniversity|DepartmentofManagementandEngineeringMaster’sthesis,30credits|ProgrammeinBusinessandEconomics–BusinessAdministration

Spring2016|ISRN-number:LIU-IEI-FIL-A--16/02242--SE

Safetymotivationsystem

Aqualitativestudyregardingwhatcreatessafetymotivationinacompanythatoperatesinahazardousbusiness

VictoriaAnderssonIlirPaqariziSupervisor:OlgaYttermyr

LinköpingUniversitySE-58183Linköping,Sweden+46013281000,www.liu.se

ABSTRACTInthisstudy,weinvestigatethecreationofsafetymotivationthroughasafetymotivationsystem

applied in a hazardous business. This system forms upon six factors and two underlying, but

equallyimportantaspectsthatcombinedcreatesafetymotivation.Theresearchwasconducted

on SSAB, a steel manufacturing company with high safety concerns on all levels within the

organization. Despite a great safety focus, SSAB shows a dissatisfying safety performance in

relationtothecompetitors.Safetymotivationiscreatedonbothanorganizationalandanindividuallevel.Theproblemlies

inhowtheorganization,throughthemanagers,providessafetymotivationforemployeesatall

levels inordertoattaintheorganization'ssafetygoals.Theemployeesmustbeencouragedby

theorganization toparticipate in the safetyworkandcomplywith the safetygoals, standards

and procedures due to the positive effects safety participation and safety compliance has on

safetymotivation.Employeesaretheorganization’slastbarrieragainstrisksandaccidentsand

theirbehavioriscriticalforavoidingpersonalharmandmaterialdamage.

In accordance to our safety motivation system of what creates safety motivation, all of the

overlying individual and organizational factors that create safety motivation will affect the

aspectsofsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance.Ifoneorbothoftheseaspectsarelow,the

safety motivation will be poor. These two aspects combined create a synergy effect that

increasessafetymotivation.Safetyparticipationcantosomeextentbecontrolledbyrulesand

regulationbutneversafetycompliance;whichwasdemonstratedatourcasecompanySSAB.

PREFACEWe want to show our gratitude by thanking our supervisor Olga Yttermyr, our interview

respondentsPederSundbom,Lotta Jakobssonand theemployees from the continuous casting

thatparticipatedinthefocusgroup.Wetrulyappreciateyourhelpandsupportwhenconducting

thisstudy!

LinköpingUniversity

2016-06-10

VictoriaAndersson IlirPaqarizi

_____________________________________ _____________________________________

TABLEOFCONTENT1INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................11.1BACKGROUND...............................................................................................................................................................11.2RESEARCHPROBLEM...................................................................................................................................................21.3OBJECTIVE.....................................................................................................................................................................51.4RESEARCHQUESTIONS................................................................................................................................................51.5CONTRIBUTION............................................................................................................................................................61.6LIMITATIONS................................................................................................................................................................71.7DISPOSITION.................................................................................................................................................................8

2METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................................92.1METHODFORRESEARCH............................................................................................................................................92.1.1ScientificPerspective...........................................................................................................................................92.1.2Researchstrategy...............................................................................................................................................102.1.3Scientificapproach............................................................................................................................................10

2.2RESEARCHDESIGN....................................................................................................................................................122.3DATACOLLECTION...................................................................................................................................................132.4SECONDARYDATA....................................................................................................................................................142.4.1Annualreports.....................................................................................................................................................152.4.2Articlesandbooks..............................................................................................................................................162.4.3Remainingsecondarysources......................................................................................................................17

2.5PRIMARYDATA..........................................................................................................................................................172.5.1Interview................................................................................................................................................................172.5.2Focusgroup..........................................................................................................................................................20

2.6ANALYSIS....................................................................................................................................................................21Analysisinthisthesis...................................................................................................................................................22

2.7VALIDITY&RELIABILITY........................................................................................................................................24Validityandreliabilityofthisthesis.....................................................................................................................25

2.8RESEARCHETHICS....................................................................................................................................................26Researchethicsofthisthesis....................................................................................................................................26

2.9METHODCRITICISM..................................................................................................................................................27

3FRAMEOFREFERENCES........................................................................................................................293.1COMPILATIONOFTHEFRAMEOFREFERENCES...................................................................................................293.2MOTIVATION.............................................................................................................................................................313.2.1Workmotivation................................................................................................................................................323.2.2Intrinsicmotivation...........................................................................................................................................323.2.3Extrinsicmotivation..........................................................................................................................................333.2.4Incentivesystemsanditspurpose...............................................................................................................33

3.3MOTIVATIONTOWARDSSAFETY............................................................................................................................343.4GOALS.........................................................................................................................................................................363.5SAFETYMOTIVATIONTHROUGHLEADERSHIP.....................................................................................................37

3.6RISKMANAGEMENTTHROUGHLEADERSHIP......................................................................................................383.7FACTORSEXPLAININGSAFETYMOTIVATION.......................................................................................................39Perceptionofsafetybehavior..................................................................................................................................39Intrinsicsafetymotivation........................................................................................................................................39Perceptionofsafetygoalsetting............................................................................................................................39

4THECASECOMPANYSSAB...................................................................................................................414.1WHYISSSABANADEQUATECASECOMPANY?...................................................................................................414.2PRESENTATIONOFSSAB........................................................................................................................................414.3SSABONE..................................................................................................................................................................424.4STEELPRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................................43Themanufacturingprocess–continouscasting.............................................................................................43

4.5PRODUCTIONRISKS..................................................................................................................................................444.6SAFETYGOALS...........................................................................................................................................................44Safetyprecautions........................................................................................................................................................45

5EMPIRICALFINDINGS............................................................................................................................475.1INTERVIEW-THESERVICEMANAGER...................................................................................................................475.1.1Workmotivation................................................................................................................................................475.1.2Safetygoals...........................................................................................................................................................485.1.3Riskmanagement...............................................................................................................................................495.1.4Leadership.............................................................................................................................................................505.1.5Safetyclimate.......................................................................................................................................................51

5.2INTERVIEW-THEPRODUCTIONUNITMANAGER................................................................................................525.2.1Workmotivation................................................................................................................................................525.2.2Safetygoals...........................................................................................................................................................535.2.3Riskmanagement...............................................................................................................................................545.2.4Leadership.............................................................................................................................................................555.2.5Safetyclimate.......................................................................................................................................................56

5.3FOCUSGROUP-THEASSEMBLYLINEWORKERS.................................................................................................585.3.1Workmotivation................................................................................................................................................585.3.2Safetygoals...........................................................................................................................................................595.3.3Riskmanagement...............................................................................................................................................605.3.4Leadership.............................................................................................................................................................615.3.5Safetyclimate.......................................................................................................................................................61

6ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................................................636.1SAFETYMOTIVATION...............................................................................................................................................636.1.1Intrinsicsafetymotivation.............................................................................................................................646.1.2Workmotivation................................................................................................................................................65

6.2SAFETYGOALS...........................................................................................................................................................666.2.1Perceptionofgoalsetting...............................................................................................................................67

6.3RISKMANAGEMENT.................................................................................................................................................686.4LEADERSHIP..............................................................................................................................................................696.4.1Communication...................................................................................................................................................706.4.2Perceptionofsafetybehavior.......................................................................................................................71

6.5SAFETYCLIMATE.......................................................................................................................................................72

6.6SAFETYPARTICIPATION&SAFETYCOMPLIANCE...............................................................................................736.7ANALYSISOFTHESAFETYMOTIVATIONSYSTEM................................................................................................74

7CONCLUSIONS...........................................................................................................................................777.1CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................................................777.2RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................................................................797.3PROPOSITIONFORFURTHERRESEARCH...............................................................................................................80

LISTOFREFERENCES.................................................................................................................................81PRINTEDREFERENCES....................................................................................................................................................81ELECTRONICALREFERENCES.........................................................................................................................................85ORALREFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................................86FIGURES.............................................................................................................................................................................86

APPENDIX1..................................................................................................................................................87INTERVIEWGUIDE1........................................................................................................................................................87INTERVIEWGUIDE2........................................................................................................................................................88INTERVIEWGUIDE3........................................................................................................................................................89

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1INTRODUCTIONThefirstchapterwillintroducethismasterthesis,startingwiththebackgroundforthisstudyanda

discussionregardingourresearchproblem.Thiswillleadontothestudy’sobjectiveandfurtheron,

theresearchquestions.

1.1BACKGROUNDA common concern across hazardous businesses is how to maintain a high level of safety

motivationamongemployeesatalllevels(EHSToday,2000).However,themotivationsystemin

most manufacturing firms today aims to increase the productivity and efficiency among the

employees (Merchant&VanderStede,2012).Whilst focusing themotivation system towards

high efficiency and productivity, the management provides indirect incentives for a larger

emphasison theproduction leaving the safety for employeesdisregarded (Maslen&Hopkins,

2014).Maslen&Hopkins(2014)meanthatjustasyoumotivateforfactorssuchasproductivity,

safetyshouldbenoexception.

The repercussionsof safetymotivationbreaches arewell documented in thedramatic caseof

the BP oil spill in theMexican gulf in 2010. The analysts found, among other things, that the

safetyobjectivesincludedinthefirmwerepoororconflictingwithotherobjectiveswithinthe

firm(Bakeretal.,2007).TheBPoilspillresultedinhugedisastrouseffectsonhumanlives,the

environment and further on, costly lawsuits (The Guardian, 2010; The Guardian, 2015a; The

Guardian, 2015b). Needless to say, safety in the workplace is not only about financial

repercussions, it ismuchmorethanthat; it isapartof the fundamentalconcernabouthuman

value which forms the principles of a modern society. The consequences for the employee

working in anunsafework environmentmight lead to an earlywithdrawal fromworkor the

wholebusiness(Nilsson,2005)togetherwithhealthproblemsorevenanimpairedqualityoflife

(Rose&Orenius,2006).

Earlierresearchstatethatmotivationderivesfromavarietyofaspectsonbothanindividualand

organizational level, including financial incentives but also job satisfaction, recognition and

appreciation from coworkers and managers (Hedlund et al., 2016). To ensure employee

engagement and commitment towards fulfilling the firm's objectives, the managers must

motivate the employees and create a will for them to work towards the right direction

(Björklund,2001;Latham&Locke,2002).

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This is in line with Clarke (2006) who states that it is crucial for themanagement to create

consciousness and awareness, regarding the firm’s safety objectives, through routines and

proceduresinordertoattainasafeworkenvironment.

In this study, we investigate the creation of safety motivation through a safety motivation

systemapplied in ahazardousbusiness.The system thatwehavedeveloped isbasedonnew

research regarding safetymotivation.This system formsupon six factors and twounderlying,

but equally important aspects that combined create safety motivation with the purpose of

improvingthesafetyperformance.TheresearchwasconductedonSSAB,asteelmanufacturing

companywithhighsafetyconcernsonall levelswithintheorganization.Despiteagreatsafety

focus, SSAB show a dissatisfying safety performance compared to the competitors. However,

SSAB was merely used as an instrument to investigate, through our system, their safety

motivationworkintheorganization.Hence,SSABisnot inthecenterof theresearch’purpose

butratheratooltogetadeeperunderstandingofsafetymotivationinahazardousbusiness.

To facilitate further reading, we have chosen to define a hazardous business. By hazardous

businesswemeanallbusinessesthatrequirea largefocusonsafetyduetohazardousrisks.A

hazardous business is where the safety concern is crucial for the employees and the

surroundings.

1.2RESEARCHPROBLEMAccordingtoArbetarskydd(2013),theworkenvironmentinSwedenwasoncethesafestinthe

worldbuthasnowfallenbehind.Thenumberofaccidentsintheheavyindustrywhichcaused

sick leaveformorethan30days,has increasedwith38%between2009-2011(ibid.)andthe

totalnumberofaccidentswithsickleavewereover30000annuallyintheyearsof2011-2013

(SwedishWorkEnvironmentAuthority,2014).Eventhenumberofaccidentsthatcauseddeath

hadincreasedintheyearof2014,afteradecreasesince2000(Arbetet,2014).Therisksforbad

accidents are largest in hazardous businesses such as steel manufacturing and construction

(ibid.). SSAB has the very ambitious safety goal of becoming the safest steel manufacturing

companyintheworld(Annualreports,2016;theservicemanager)butstatisticsshowanother

reality. SSAB isoverrepresented inaccident relatedstatistics compared toother companies in

thesamebusiness(theservicemanager).OnlyinthelastfiveyearsSSABLuleåisthevictimof

fiveworkrelatedaccidentsthatledtodeath(NSD,2016).

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This case study was conducted on SSAB, a large, international, Swedish-based steel

manufacturingfirm.Thiscompanywaschosensinceithasastrongfocusonsafetyduetothat

the manufacturing process includes high risks for the employees and the surrounding

environment.

Themain risks for the employees are liquid steel, extremelyhigh temperatures andexplosive

andpoisonousgas.Itisforemosttheassemblylineworkersthatareexposedtotheseriskseven

though the risks affect the whole organization. The assembly line workers are the first ones

affected if an incident occurs and theywill have a large impact of the consequences from an

accident regarding their own health, the environment and negative financial aspects for the

company. SSAB emphasize a considerable focus on safety by having various safety measures

statedinthetheirannualreports,includingthegoalsofzeroLTI(losttimeinjury)accidentsper

yearandbeingthesafeststeelmanufacturingcompanyintheworld(SSABAnnualreport,2014;

Årsstämma, 2010). Furthermore, due to the high safety standards, SSAB have incorporated

different rules and regulations; the usage of correct working gear, the providing of internal

training,etc.However,accidentsstilloccureveryyear.

The theoretical standpoint in this studyproceeds fromsix central factors that together create

safetymotivation.Thesafetymotivationandsafetyrelatedissuesderivefromtwolevels;from

anindividuallevelandfromanorganizationallevel.Safetymotivationfromanindividuallevelis

affectedbythreefactors;theindividual'sperceptionofsafetybehavior,intrinsicsafetybehavior

andtheperceptionofgoalsettingonbothapersonallevelandorganizationallevel(Hedlundet

al.,2016).Thegoalswithintheorganization,leadershipandsafetyclimateaffecttheemployee’s

safetymotivationfromanorganizationallevel(Hedlundetal.,2010).Inthisstudy,safetyclimate

refers to the procedures, practices and the perception of policies at the workplace. Safety

participationandsafetycompliancearehighlyrelatedtotheindividual’sownsafetymotivation

(Hedlund et al., 2010;Hedlund et al., 2016). This implies that themanagersmust involve the

employees in the precautionary safetywork to ensure a safeworkplace. Safetywork regards

everythingthemanagersandemployeesdoinordertocreateasafeworkplace.

AccordingtobothAndriessen(1978)andHedlundetal.(2010;2016)oneofthemostimportant

factorsforcreatingsafetymotivationisleadership;theimportanceofthemanagers’roleandthe

greatimpacttheyhaveondevelopingasafeworkenvironmentthroughriskmanagement.Risk

management isanactivity thataimsto identifyandquantify thevariousrisks inorder to take

theappropriatemeasurestoreduceoreliminatethem(Nationalencyklopedin,2016b).

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Themanagementfacestheproblemofestablishinganopenandeffectivelineofcommunication

with theworkforce in order to create a good safety climate (Baker et al., 2007). Further, the

managersmusthaveempoweringattitudesandcreateengagementamongtheemployees,since

two key factors for safety motivation at an individual level are safety compliance and safety

participation(Hedlundetal.,2016).

One leadership tactic tomotivateemployees in a certaindirection is touse incentives (Locke,

1968;Merchant&VanderStede,2012;Anthonyetal.,2014;Maslen&Hopkins,2014)butwhen

it comes to motivating towards safety incentives can also cause problems, due to the

contradictory goals of safety and productivity. Financial incentives can be problematic when

tryingtomotivatetowardssafety;smalleraccidentsmightbe ignoredandnotreportedbythe

employees inordernot to lose their financialbonus. If smallermishapsandaccidentsarenot

reported and brought up to light, the precautions safetywork is aggravated. Thismeans that

financialincentivesarenotalwaysthebestwaytomotivateemployees.Hence,itisbeneficialto

understandthatdifferenttypesofgoalsarebestachievedbyusingdifferentkindsofmotivation

systems.

Toclarify,thecreationofsafetymotivationliesinsixdifferentfactors.Threeofthemareonan

individuallevel:theindividual'sperceptionofsafetybehavior,intrinsicsafetybehaviorandthe

perception of goal setting (Hedlund et al., 2016). The other three factors that create safety

motivationderive fromanorganizational level: safetyclimate, leadershipand thegoalswithin

the organization (ibid.). The underlying aspects that are affected by the six factors above,

strongly relates to an individual's motivation towards safety. These aspects are safety

participationandsafetycompliance,whichimpliesthattheemployeesmustnotonlyunderstand

andbeawareofthesafetygoalsandtheroutinesbutalsotocomplywiththemtoenableasafe

workenvironment(Hedlundetal.,2016).Thesafetymotivationsystemis formedbythesesix

factorswithitsadditionaltwoaspectsandwillthereforefunctionasabasewhenconductingthe

study. The theories by Hedlund et al. (2010; 2016) were chosen since it is new research, it

coversalargeamountofaspectsandheavilyrelatestothisstudy’sresearchquestions.

SinceSSABhas troubleachieving their safetygoals,questionscanbeenlightenregardingwhy

thesegoalshavebeenunreachableforthecompanysofar.ThisproblemisnotspecificforSSAB,

according to Arbetarskydd (2013) Sweden has fallen behind when it comes to work related

accidents,bothinjuriesanddeathshaveincreasedinthelatestyears.Creatingasafeworkplace

can prevent accidents but that is not enough, the human factor is an essential part of the

organization'ssafetyperformance(Donald&Young,1996).

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Bymotivatingtowardssafety,canacompanyinahazardousbusinessimprovetheiremployees’

safetymotivationandthusthesafetyperformance?

Safety motivation is created through a safety motivation system that derives from both an

organizational and an individual level. The problem lies in how the organization, through the

managers,providessafetymotivationforemployeesinordertoattaintheorganization'ssafety

goals.Theemployeesmustbeencouragedbytheorganizationtoparticipateinthesafetywork

and complywith the safety goals, standards andprocedures due to the positive effects safety

participationandsafetycompliancehasonsafetymotivation.Employeesaretheorganization’s

lastbarrieragainstrisksandaccidentsandtheirbehavioriscriticalforavoidingpersonalharm

andmaterialdamage(Hofmann&Stetzer,1996;Eiff,1999).

1.3OBJECTIVETheobjectiveofthismasterthesisistogetanunderstandingforthesafetymotivationsystemin

acompanythatoperatesinahazardousbusiness.

1.4RESEARCHQUESTIONS Theresearchquestionspurposeistoenableananswertotheobjectiveofthismasterthesis.

RQ1.Howdoesa company thatoperates inahazardousbusiness incorporate

their safety goals in their safety motivation system for the assembly line

workers?

RQ2.Howdoes the safety climateata company thatoperates inahazardous

businessaffecttheassemblylineworkerssafetymotivation?

RQ3.Howdo the leadershipaffect safetymotivationamong theassembly line

workersatacompanythatoperatesinahazardousbusiness?

RQ 4. How do the assembly line workers at a company that operates in a

hazardous business participate in and comply with the safety motivation

system?

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1.5CONTRIBUTIONBy using SSAB as a tool to get a deeper understanding of the safety motivation system in a

companythatoperatesinahazardousbusiness,wecancontributetosciencebyprovidingnew

insighttothisresearcharea.ThefocusinthisstudyisnotSSABinparticularbutratherinhowa

company can motivate their employees towards safety. The uniqueness with this study lies

within the combination of the theoretical frame of references and the empirical findings by

developing and applying a safety motivation system on a firm that operates in a hazardous

business. This will be carried through by analyzing SSAB and its safety motivation system

throughacasestudy,withthebaseinatheoreticalsafetymotivationsystemconsistingofboth

individualandorganizationalfactors.

We have differentiated our study from previous research by developing a safety motivation

systemandgatheringempirical findings fromdifferent levelswithin the company, includinga

focusgroupwithassemblylineworkers.Theageofthearticleswasanimportantaspectwhen

doingtheresearch.Wewantedtousenewresearchtoensurethatthearticleswasuptodate,

sincescienceisalwayscontinuingwithnewtheoriesandmodelsbeingdeveloped.Additionally,

wesearchedforolderarticlesthatarewellcitedtouseincombinationwithnewerresearchto

increasethecredibilityandtrustworthinessofthestudy.

We argue that the study will be generalizable for firms in the steel business but also other

hazardous businesses where the safety concern is crucial. We are aware of that other steel-

manufacturingfirmsoutsidetheSSABgroupcanbedifferentduetoavarietyofaspects.Safety

concerns can for examplebe affectedby factorsdependingon safety standards, theoperating

country'slawsandregulations,climateetc.Thisstudycontributestoadeeperunderstandingof

which factors affect safety motivation the most and by stressing the importance of safety

participationandsafetycompliance.

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1.6LIMITATIONSDue to time constraints and limited resources the authors have chosen to limit the empirical

findings to one company, SSAB. Even though we have used historical data to study how the

safetymotivationwork has evolved over time, this is by nomeans a longitudinal study but a

cross-sectionalstudycarriedoutduringaperiodoffivemonths.

ThestudywasconductedatSSABLuleå,whichisrepresentativeforthecorporategrouplocated

inSwedenandFinlandduetothesamesafetymotivationworkandsimilarproductionfacilities.

Further,thisstudywasbasedononedepartmentatthecompanyduetothetimeconstraint.We

chosetolimitthisstudytoonedepartmentinordertogetadeepunderstandingoftheirsafety

motivationworkandtherespondents’perceptionofsafetymotivation.Thiswillprovideadepth

inthestudyandacomprehensiveunderstandingoftheproblem.

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1.7DISPOSITIONThedispositionofthisthesisisdisplayedbythefigurebeneath.Itisanoverviewofallthesteps

andchoiceswemadetocreatethisthesis.

Figure1.Thedispositionofthismasterthesisisasshownabove.

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2METHODOLOGYThis chapter describes the research method and scientific perspective used when writing this

master thesis. It also clarifies the procedure of conducting this research. Further, the chapter

discussesimportantaspectssuchascriticismandethics.

2.1METHODFORRESEARCHThemethodusedforthisstudyismainlybaseduponthemethodliteraturewrittenbyBryman&

Bell (2007), Justesen & Mik-Meyer (2011) and Bryman (2012). These books provide a well-

reputedreferenceframeofhowtowriteaqualitativestudywithadeductiveapproach.

2.1.1SCIENTIFICPERSPECTIVEThe scientific perspective compiles the ontological and epistemology presumptions and

interests that createabase for research (Justesen&Mik-Meyer,2011). In social science there

are several philosophical approaches. One that is often associated with qualitative research

methodisrealism,whichisbasedonanobjectiveviewoftheworldthatis independentofthe

researcherswhoisplanningtoinvestigateaspectsofthisworld(ibid.).Fortheresearcher,the

goal with this perspective is to describe and explain the phenomenon and relationships as

objectiveandneutralaspossible(ibid.).

However, since the purpose and the design of this research implies that the phenomenon is

studiedthroughtheinterpretationsandsubjectivethoughtsoftherespondents,inourcasethe

managementandassemblylineofSSAB,wenolongerfallwithinthepureconceptofobjectivity.

Therefore,arealisticperspectiveisnotsuitableforourstudy.Interpretivismontheotherhand,

isapositionthatadvocatesthattheresearcherandthesocialworld impactoneachother, the

facts and values are not distinct and therefore the findings are inevitably influenced by the

researcher'sperspectiveandvalues(Ritchie&Lewis,2003).Theunattainabilityofconducting

objectiveandvaluefreeresearchdoesnotmeanthatweasauthorscannotcandeclareandbe

transparent about our assumptions (ibid.), which we are. This aspect of the findings being

influencedbytheresearcher'sperspectiveandvaluescanalsoaffectthegeneralizabilityofthe

study, a discussionwedeeperprobe in to in 2.3 and2.8.1. The gathering of data through the

respondents’ perceptions and interpretation fits well into the scientific perspective of

interpretivism,andhenceisthereasonwhywechosetoproceedfromthisscientificperspective.

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2.1.2RESEARCHSTRATEGYBryman&Bell (2007) point out twomain research strategies; quantitative and qualitative. A

researchstrategyisthegeneralorientationtotheconductofbusinessresearch.Thedistinction

between quantitative and qualitative research is rather ambiguous,with some regarding that

there are fundamental differences andother claiming the contrast areno longeruseful (ibid).

Bryman & Bell (2007) employ a great deal in the distinction of the two strategies. Themost

commonandcentraldifferenceisthatquantitativeresearchmethodstatesthatthesocialreality

isobjectiveandbuildsupongatheringnumericdata.Thequalitativestrategyontheotherhand

strives for an in-depth understanding of the social reality as well as the underlying affecting

aspects,whichwemadeby studying and investigating theparticipants’ comprehensionof the

reality. The qualitative research strategy enables a depth in the study by interpreting and

understandingthephenomenon(ibid.).

Thephenomenoninourcasestudyishowsafetymotivationiscreatedfortheemployees.Since

theobjectiveof thismaster thesis is togetanunderstanding for thesafetymotivationsystem

within a company that operates in a hazardous business,with a depth analysis based on the

empirical findingsfromthesocialreality,wefounditappropriatetouseaqualitativeresearch

methodthroughadeductiveapproach.

2.1.3SCIENTIFICAPPROACHThe nature of the relationship between theory and research is primarily divided into two

approaches,thedeductiveandinductivetheory(Bryman&Bell,2007).Thedeductivetheoryis

themostcommononeofthetwotheories.Thisscientificapproachmeansthattheresearchers

deduceahypothesisbasedontheory,whichthenmustbesubjectedtoempiricalscrutiny(ibid.).

Inotherwords,deductiveapproachisconcernedwithdeductingconclusionsfrompremisesor

propositions(Goddard&Melville,2014).Theinductiveapproachontheotherhand,istheright

opposite,meaningthattheobservationsarethestartingpointoftheresearchandthetheories

being formulated towards theendandasa resultofobservations (ibid.).Thesequenceofour

empiricaldataandtheoryisinlinewiththedeductiveapproach.Thisisduetothefactthatwe

used the theoryregardingsafetymotivationas thebase for theempirical findingsandnot the

otherwayaround.Thepurposeofthisstudyisnottocreatenewtheories,buttocompareand

puttheempiricalfindingsinrelationtotheexistingtheories.

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Byproceedingfromadeductiveapproach,thefirststepwastocollectsecondarydata.Thedata

gatheredwaschosentoenablebroadbackgroundknowledgeaboutboththecasecompanyand

atthesametimerelevanttheoriesaboutsafetymotivation.Thenextstepwastogatherprimary

dataatthecasecompany.Theempiricalfindingswerethencomparedandputinrelationtoeach

other, the interviews and the focus group, and lastly to the theory to enable analysis and

conclusions.

Theveryfirststepwhenconductingthismasterthesiswastofigureoutwhatresearchproblem

wewantedtoaddress.Motivation,repetitiveworktasks,hazardous firmsandsafetywerekey

words from the beginning. The phenomenon of safety motivation within a hazardous

manufacturingfirmwastobeinvestigated.ThechosencasecompanywasSSABsinceitfulfilled

all our requirement of 1) being Swedish, 2) operating in a hazardous business (steel

manufacturing),3)havinghighsafetystandardsand4)accidentsdooccur.

The first requirementwas set because of geographical reasons and that Sweden hasmultiple

laws and regulations about work related safety. The second requirement was set since the

study’s objective is to receive an understanding for how a manufacturing company motivate

towardssafety,inabusinesswheresafetyconcerniscrucialfortheemployeestonotgethurtor

killedat theirwork.Thereason forchoosingasteelmanufacturingcompanywas thatArbetet

(2014)statesthatthisareaofbusinessisoneofthemostaffectedbybadaccidents.Ahazardous

work environment puts a large emphasis on safety motivation for the company and the

managers,whichwasbeneficialwheninvestigatinghowsafetymotivationiscreated.Thethird

requirement relates to the second one; if the company operates in a hazardous business, it

shouldhavehighsafetystandardsofmoral,ethicalandeven tosomeextent financial reasons.

The last requirementwas set becausewe searched for a case company that have high safety

standardsandsafetyobjectivesbuthasnotsucceededtomeetthesegoals.Thismeansthatthe

company,eventhoughitisstrivingtomotivatetheiremployeestowardsasafebehavior,isnot

doingasufficientjobandthereisroomforimprovements.

The next stepwas to build a solid theoretical knowledge base and knowledge about the case

company.LinköpingUniversity’sdatabaseUniSearchwasusedwhengatheringscientificarticles

toensurecredibilityand informationabout thecasecompanywasgathered foremost through

theirannualreports.Thetheoreticalstandpointinthebeginningwasworkmotivationbutsince

SSAB put a large emphasis on safety in their reports, this study took a new direction into

motivation towards safety. Theories aboutwhat effectswork environment safety and how to

createsafetymotivationishencethebaseforthetheoreticalreferenceframe.

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2.2RESEARCHDESIGNThe aim with this study is to get an understanding for safety motivation system within a

companythatoperatesinahazardousbusiness.Toenlightentheproblemofhowtomotivateto

a certain goal, e.g. a safeworkbehavior, thedata should containhard facts such as goals and

statisticsbutalsomanagersandemployees’perspectives.Theempiricaldatamustbedetailed,

intensive and thorough (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Thus, we found that a case study is an

appropriate method for this study because it allows the researcher to probe deep into the

problemand theorganization (Justesen&Mik-Meyer,2011).Further, thecombinationof case

studyandaqualitativeapproachissupportedbyBryman&Bell(2007)forthesamereason,that

thecombinationispracticalwhengeneratingintensiveanddetaileddata.

By studying theproblem throughmultiple sourcesondifferenthierarchical levels, aswehave

done,wearenotonlyextracting intenseanddetailedinformationasarguedbyBryman&Bell

(2007),butalso taking intoconsideration thatsafetymotivationconcernsall levelswithin the

organization(Hedlundetal.,2010;Hedlundetal.,2016).Theseaspectsofgettingcomplexand

uniquedata throughmultiple sourceswithin the case company are exactly the attributes that

Stake(1995)andEaston(2007)argueacasestudyprovides.However,iftheinformationisnot

detailedenough, it ishardtoappreciatethesignificanceofthecasestudy(Bryman,2012).We

havetakenthisaspectinconsiderationbyinterviewingtwomanagersondifferenthierarchical

levelsandconductingafocusgroupwiththeassemblylineworkerstogetabroadanddetailed

pictureregardingthesafetyworkthroughoutthewholecompany.

Nonetheless,evenifsucceededinthechallengeofextractingthoroughanddeepdata,thereare

still negative aspects of case study regarding external validity (Bryman & Bell, 2007). The

problem lies in the fact that it’s hard to make a single case study generalizable so it can be

appliedtoanothercase(Bryman,2012;Justesen&Mik-Meyer,2011).Flyvbjerg(2006)argues

thatit’spossibletomakegeneralizationsfromsinglecasestudiessinceconcreteknowledgethat

is context-dependent, as in case studies, “is more valuable than the vain search for predictive

theories and universals”. He continues to arguewith base in the falsification argument, that if

there is one observation that does not fit, the study is considered not to be valid. Hence,

Flyvbjerg(2006)statesthevalueofdependentknowledge,the“forcesofexamples”andthereby

thatcasestudiesaretrulygeneralizableaslongasthestudyisdenseenough.

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IfweapplytheseargumentsbyFlyvbjerg(2006)onourresearchmethod,wefoundthatifour

studyisdenseenough,thefactthatSSABoperatesinthesteelindustry,whichisaratherunique

business,doesn'tmeanthattherearenoaspectsthatcanbegeneralizable.Itcanforexamplebe

generalizedbyaspectssuchthesamesafetyconcerns,similarbusinessorotherindustrieswith

highrisksfortheemployeesinthemanufacturingprocess.

2.3DATACOLLECTIONThe first step of our data collectionwas to ensure that this studywas based on theories that

providedeepandbroadknowledge;thereforewebeganwithcollectingthesecondarydata.This

wasmadetosupportthestudy’sobjective,createabaseforthetheoreticalframeofreferences

and further enable that the research questions can be answered.We reviewed SSAB’s annual

reportstogetanoverviewofthecompanyfollowedbydoingresearchinrelevantsocialscience

articles.Thearticlesusedwerechosenbasedonour findings fromthecasecompany'sannual

reports. These articles provide the central perspectives of what creates motivation towards

safety, which are emphasized in the research problem. The articles are foremost gathered

throughLinköping’sUniversity'slibrarydatabase,UniSearch,toensurevalidityandreliability.

Thesecondstepwastogatherdeeperandmoredetailedinformationaboutthecasecompany,

which were done through carefully reading and investigating their annual reports and other

official documents. The reason annual reports were used was to complement the theoretical

findings, to see how SSAB work with safety precautions and safety motivation. Hence, the

reportswereimportantforthestudysinceitprovideadetailedpictureoftheorganizationwith

itsgoalsandobjectives.Italsofacilitatedfurthertheoreticalresearchbyshowingwhattypesof

goalsandmotivationalfactorsSSABusesinordertomotivatetheiremployeestowardssafety.

Considering the study’sdeductiveapproach, the theoryworkedasa startingpointof thedata

collectionandwould thereafterbesupportedempirically.Therefore, the thirdand last stepof

the data collection was the gathering of empirical findings, which will be brought forward

throughinterviewsandafocusgroup.Thismixofsecondaryandprimarydatawastoprovidea

reliable base of background knowledge, empirically as well as theoretically, to enable the

creation of a valid master thesis. To enable answering the research questions, and thus the

objective of this study, the interviews and focus group questionnaires were based on the

theoreticalframeofreferencesandthedocumentsfromthecasecompany.Thiswasinorderto

keep a continuous line of argument throughout this master thesis in order to facilitate our

analysisandcreateaconsentientstudy.

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As earlier mentioned, the theoretical frame of references is mainly based on Hedlund et al.

(2010; 2016) perspectives of what creates safety motivation. The factors that creates safety

motivationareleadership,goalsandthesafetyclimatewithintheorganization,continuedonan

individual level with the perception of safety behavior, intrinsic safety motivation and the

perception of goal setting. These six factors have been the base when developing our safety

motivationsystemthatexplainshowsafetymotivationiscreatedfortheindividual.Thesafety

motivation system has been the base for the interviews and focus group questionnaires and

thereafter for the analysis.This ismade to ensure a clear line throughout the study, from the

theoretical frame of references followed by the empirical findings and finished off with the

analysis.Oursafetymotivationsystemisexplainedindetailinthecompilationofthetheoretical

frameofreferences,3.1.

Figure2.Depictstheprocessofourresearch.Startingoutwithbuildingthetheoreticalframeofreferenceswithsupportfromdocumentsfromthecasecompanyandalteringbetweenthesetwotoensurearelevanttheoreticalreferenceframe.Thereaftercollectingempiricaldatafromthecasecompanyandsimultaneouslyworkingonthereferenceframetoensureacorrectdirectionofthis

study.

2.4SECONDARYDATAThe secondary data concerns specific data that has been gathered by other researchers for a

differentpurposethanthisparticularstudy(Bryman&Bell,2007).Thetheoreticalsamplingis

madetogenerateatheoreticalunderstanding(ibid.).Thetheoreticalsamplinginthiscasewas

first toget anunderstanding forSSABandan insight in theorganization.Thepurposewas to

clarify what type of goals SSAB have, how they emphasize safety concerns and how they

encourageasafebehavior.Thiswasmadebycarefullyreadingtheannualreportsfromthecase

companyandwhatisstatedontheirwebpage.Furtherstepsinthetheoreticalsamplingwereto

build a knowledge base from relevant scientific theories. The specific theories are chosen

becauseofthefindingsinSSAB’sannualreports,forexamplehowtheyaddresssafetyconcerns.

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When doing research for this studywe had to alter between looking into the annual reports,

SSAB’swebpageandotherofficialdocumentstoensurethatwehavecoveredallrelevantareas,

such as goals, leadership standards, etc. At the same timewe chose toworkparallelwith the

theoretical frameofreferencestoensurethatwekepttheintendeddirectionforthestudy, i.e.

safetymotivation.Wehadtoalterbetweendoingresearchforrelevantarticlesandreadingthe

annualreportsnotonlytoensurethe intendeddirectionofthestudywasfollowedbutalsoto

ensuretheuseofrelevantkeywordsandacoherentstudy.

Theempiricalfindingshasbeenallowedtohavethelargestemphasisinthischapterduetothe

fact that this study’sobjective isbasedmainlyon theempirical findings.Theobjectivewas to

investigate and analyze how SSAB create motivation towards safety for their assembly line

workersthroughthemanagersandhenceagreatfocusisontheempirics.Bynomeanswerethe

theoriesofnoimportance.Inlinewiththedeductiveapproach,itprovidesthebackgroundand

relevantknowledgeandthereforefunctionedasthebaseforthestudy.However,theempirical

findings were crucial when answering the research question and have therefore been given

moreattentioninthischapter.

2.4.1ANNUALREPORTSTheannualreportsfromthecasecompanycontainagenerousamountofkeyinformationabout

the case company. The reports have been used when gathering background data about the

companytocreateanunderstandingfortheorganizationregardingaspectssuchasproduction,

leadership standards, statistics and company structure. Further, the annual reports contains

goals and objectives of the organization, such as safety goals, which were important for this

study.

Since the annual reports contain a great substance of information it facilitated doing further

theoreticalresearch.ItclearlystateswhattypesofgoalsandmotivationalfactorsSSABusesin

order tomotivate their employees, thus functioningasa startingpoint for thedata collection.

The annual reports provided us with keywords that were used in the further theoretical

research,aswellasmainissuesthatwefoundinterestingtoaddress.Thesekeywordsandmain

issueswereusedasaguidewhensearchingforarticles,booksandothertheoreticalreferences

inordertowritethisstudyintheintendeddirectionandinacoherentway.

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When searching for information about the case company, it was important to use as new

documentsaspossible.Thisisbecausegoals,statisticsandotherinformationwillbeupdatedon

annualbasisandolderreportsmightthereforenolongerbeuptodateandtheinformationwill

notbevalid.Hence,theannualreportsfromSSABaremaximumtwoyearsold(issuedatlatest

2014)toensurethattheinformationisvalidandaccurate.

2.4.2ARTICLESANDBOOKSThe secondary data was besides the annual reports primarily based on relevant articles and

booksthatarescientificallyapprovedtoensurecredibility.Thereforetheyaregatheredthrough

Linköping’sUniversity’sdatabase,UniSearch,whichonlypublisharticlesthatarereviewedand

recited.Thebooksregardingthescientificmethodare foremostpreviouscourse literaturebut

alsonon-course literature.AllbooksregardingtheorieswerefoundatLinköping’sUniversity’s

library, the validity is ensured by having reliable authors from adequate scientific areas. The

primarypurposeofusingscientificarticleswasdevelopknowledgeaboutthesubjectofsafety

motivation.Thearticlesalsoprovidedthetheoretical frameofreferences,which functionedas

thebaseforfurtherresearch,theempiricalresearchandtheanalysis.

The keywordswhen searching for relevant articleswere based on the information from the

annual reports. The keywords used were: safety, safety motivation, motivation, hazardous

industry, assembly line, motivation + goal, motivation + leadership andmotivation + culture +

safety climate. As stated above, conducting research from scientific articles was altered with

doing research from the annual reports as the study evolved into its final objective. The

keywords changed from motivation into the direction of safety motivation after carefully

consideringtheinformationgatheredfromtheannualreportsaswellashavingthethoughtof

creatingaunique,interestingstudythatcancontributetothecurrentscientificresearch.

Anotheraspectwhensearching forarticleswas theageof thearticles.Wewanted tousenew

researchtoensurearticlesthatwasuptodate,sincescienceisalwaysongoingandnewtheories

andmodelsaredeveloped.Additionally,wesearchedforolderarticlesthatarewellcitedtouse

in combination with newer research to increase the credibility and trustworthiness. When

defining keywords, we used multiple authors or sources, also in order to increase the

trustworthiness.

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2.4.3REMAININGSECONDARYSOURCESInordertowriteabackgroundandaproblemdiscussionthat is interestingandyetconnected

not only to the prevailing situation at SSAB but also other hazardous industries as well as

current news and recent accidents, we found it necessary to look beyond documents sprung

from the case company and theories. Thereforewe searched for news articles that addressed

problemswithsafetymotivationandwhatthe lackofsuchmotivationcouldresult in.Wealso

searchedforstatisticsthatcouldpresentfactsaboutworkenvironmentrelatedaccidents,ifand

howithadchangedovertheyearsandhowanunsafeenvironmentcanaffecttheworkers.

Toensurethevalidityandreliabilityweusedgovernmentalauthoritiesandwell-reputednews

channels.Thekeywordswhensearchingforrelevantnewsarticlesandstatisticswereprimarily

thesameaswhensearchingforscientificarticles;safety,safetymotivation,motivation,hazardous

industryandassembly line,withexceptions foradding thekeywordworkaccident.Thesearch

wasconductedinbothSwedishandEnglishandthereaftertranslatedintoEnglish.

2.5PRIMARYDATAPrimarydataisdatacollectedbytheresearchersspecificallyfortheintendedstudy(Bryman&

Bell, 2007). The primary data collected for this studywas gathered through interviews and a

focusgroup toget theperksof twoperspectives.Two interviews togetadeepunderstanding

fromthemanager'sperspectiveandafocusgroupstobeabletohearmanyinterpretationsand

opinions from theemployees’perspective. Leadership, safety climateand thegoalswithin the

organizationallaffecttheindividual'smotivationtowardssafety(Andriessen,1978;Hedlundet

al.,2010;Hedlundetal.,2016)anditisthereforeinterestingtoheartheviewsandopinionsof

theassemblylineworkers,theproductionmanagerandservicemanager.

2.5.1INTERVIEWThe samplingmethod, interview, is chosen since it is very suitable for case studiesbecause it

probe deep into the issue (Denscombe, 2009). The empirical findings are based on the

theoretical frame of references and aims to provide a deep understanding of the underlying

aspectsofwhataffectssafetymotivation.Interviewsprovidealargecontentofinformationthat

is beneficialwhen conducting a depth study (ibid.). The interviewswill serve as an empirical

sourceofinformationthatisneededinordertofulfillthepurposeofthecasestudy.Interviews

are an excellent method when gathering information regarding interpretations and opinions,

sinceitissubjectiveandindividual.Additionally,face-to-faceinterviewsprovidestheabilityfor

the moderator to ask follow up questions, which results in a deeper understanding of the

respondentsanswerandtherebytheissue.

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Anegativesideofinterviewingisthattherespondentmightnotbecompletelyhonestwiththeir

answerandinsteadanswerwhatismostappropriateorexpectedbytheirposition(Bryman&

Bell,2007).Further, there isalwaysapossibility that theanswerwillbeaffectedbybias from

the moderator. This can be reduced by offering the respondents anonymity and by the

moderatorbeing asobjective andneutral aspossible (ibid.).When conducting the interviews,

wetriedtohandletheseissuesbypromisingtherespondentsthattheanswerswillbeusedonly

forthisstudy.Onlyourowninterpretationsofwhattheyhavesaidwillbeusedandpublished.

The respondentswill alsohave theopportunity to resubmitby reading the transliterationsof

their answers. This will also reduce the risk of errors since the respondents have the

opportunitytocorrectthemselvesiftheysaidanythingwrong.

Theinterviewquestionnairereliedonthecompilationofthetheoreticalframeofreferences(see

point 3.1 Compilation of theoretical frame of references) to ensure that the questions are

relevanttothestudyandsupportingwhenconnectingtheempiricalfindingstheoretically.Since

motivation for safety taps on different levels in the organization, it was therefore of high

importance to get the perspective from different levels. To assure this, one interview was

conductedwith the servicemanager to get the viewsof topmanagers andone interviewwas

heldwiththeproductionmanagertogettheperspectiveofamanagerclosetotheassemblyline

workers.

Bythereasonsstatedabove,wefoundit importanttointerviewtherightpersonsatSSAB.We

chosefirsttocontacttheinformationdeskatSSABLuleåtoexplaintheaimwiththisstudy.They

recommendedustotalktotheservicemanagersincehewouldhavethebestknowledgeabout

howSSABmotivatetheirassemblylinestafftowardssafety.Afterbeingincontactwithhimhe

wasverypositiveofcooperatinginourresearchandhefurtherrecommendedustotalktothe

productionunitmanagerandhelpeduscontactpersonnelforthefocusgroup.

TheservicemanagerandproductionunitmanagerwererecommendedasrespondentsbySSAB

themselvesduetothefactthattheypossesstheinformationthatwewerelookingforregarding

thesafetywork.TherecommendationbySSABdisplayedanunderlyingtrustandinterestofour

study. This overall trust and belief is one of many reasons why it is important to follow the

ethical principles of interviewing (Bryman & Bell, 2007). Furthermore, to ensure that the

respondentfeltsecureandsafewhenparticipatinginthestudywecarefullypointedouttothe

respondent’s informationregardingthepurposeof thestudyandtriedtoansweranypossible

questiontheyhadabouttheinterview.

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Theuseofstructuredinterviewshastheperkofreductionoferrorsthatdependsoninterviewer

variability.Meaningthatthevariationoftherespondent'sanswerdependson“true”variations

and not the context of the interview (Bryman & Bell, 2007). In a structured interview, an

interviewguidehasbeenpreparedthatindetailgivesboththequestionsandtheirsequence.A

semi-structured interview implicates a less controlling roll for the interviewer with the

opportunitytobothaskfollow-upquestionsandchangethesequence(ibid.).Thebenefitswith

this type of interview are that themoderators have the ability to addquestions based on the

respondent's answerbut also the respondent's capability tobringup interesting and relevant

subjects that a structured interview guide wouldn’t allow. Since we used semi-structured

interviews,wehadtheabilitytochooseordersbetweenthequestions.

During the interview sessions, we chose to change the order of the questions because the

respondents answered very detailed and wide-ranging and thus began to address upcoming

issues. It then feltmorenatural tochange theorderof thequestions to facilitatea flow in the

interview and the feeling of a more natural conversation, in order to encourage a relaxed

atmosphere.

Aswestressedearlier,thepurposeoftheresearchalongwiththechosenscientificperspective

impliesthat thephenomenonwasstudiedthroughthe interpretationsandsubjectivethoughts

oftherespondents.Byconductingsemi-structuredinterviews,insteadofunstructured,wewere

encouragingadeeperdiscussionregardingsafetymotivationwiththeopportunityofsteppingin

if the interview is carried away. A structured interview would not have been adequate for

similarreasons,wemayhavestayedwithintherelevantsubjectbutinsametimelosemuchof

theinformationthatexistsbetweenthelinesoftheinterviewguide.

To furtherensure thatany important informationwouldnotbe lostduring theprocessof the

interviewandtofacilitateanyfollowupquestionsbasedontherespondent'sanswer;wechose

tohavetwomoderatespresentduringboth interviews.Multiplemoderatorshavetheperksof

being able to listen more carefully and at the same time take notes, since the tasks can be

dividedbetweenthetwo(Bryman&Bell,2007).Havingtwomoderatorscanhaveitsdownsides

as well. As with all human interaction, there are chances of misunderstanding and disputes

erupting,notonlywiththerespondentsbutbetweenthemoderatorsaswell.Thiscaninreturn

haveanegativeeffectontheoutcomeof the interviewsandconsequently thewholestudy.To

avoidandpreventthisfromhappeningwemadeearlypreparationsandpracticeinordertotake

ondiscussionsandsettleanypossibledisputesintime.Anadditionalriskformisunderstandings

isduetotheinterviewswereconductedinSwedishandthereaftertranslatedintoEnglish.

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To reduce the risk for errors,we recorded the interviews so thatwe both could listen to the

answersmultiple timeswhile doing the translations.Hence,weput a lot of effort in reducing

misunderstandingandmisinterpretationsthatdependsonthetranslation.

2.5.2FOCUSGROUPAs previously stated, safety motivation is influenced by all hierarchical levels within an

organization.Thus,itisimportanttocovertheperspectiveoftheassemblylineworkerswhoare

theclosesttothemanufacturingprocessandexposedtomostoftherisks.Thefocusgroupwas

held with employees from the assembly line at the same department as the production unit

managertomakethestudymorecredibleandthefindingsmorerelevant.Thefocusgroupguide

reliedonthecompilationofthetheoreticalframework,see3.7,toensurethatthequestionnaire

is relevant for the study and supports the connection between the empirical and theoretical

findings.Thequestionswereopentofacilitatediscussionanddifferentpointofviewsfromthe

respondentstoenabledivergentperspectives.

Focusgroupsarenotsuitablewhenthegoalistogetadeepinsightintherespondent'sviewbut

rather to focus on the dialogue and the interaction between the contestants (Justesen&Mik-

Meyer,2011).Hedlundetal.(2010;2016)arguethatsafetymotivationderivesforexamplefrom

thesafetyclimateandtheperceptionofsafetybehavior.Itisthereforeinterestingtoinvestigate

howtherespondentsactasagroupandreactoneachother’sopinions.

Anegativeaspectwithfocusgroupsisthepeerpressurethatcanaffecttherespondentsintonot

beingtrulyhonestabouthowtheyfeelorwhytheyactinacertainbehavior.Unofficialleaders,

whichmostoftenoccuringroups,canaffectotherstonothavethecouragetospeakup.Further,

thereisariskthattherespondentsarenotwillingtotalkcondescendingabouttheorganization

orthemanagers.Onewaywetriedtohandlethisissuewastoofferanonymityandassurethat

therespondent’sanswerswillnotbepublished.However,theriskwithpeerpressurewillstill

remain. The alternative is to conduct an individual interviewwith the assembly lineworkers.

Thiswouldhoweverbeinappropriateduetothetimeconstraintofthestudybutitwouldalso

failtobringoutthediscussionwewereaimingfor.Duringthefocusgroupsession,everyoneof

therespondentsspoketheiropinionregardingbothpositiveandnegativeaspects,whichmight

implyopenattitudesandhonestanswers.

The focusgrouphelped togetanunderstandingof theperspectiveof theemployeesandhow

theyinterpretthatthemanagersmotivatetowardssafety.Thefocusgroupsessionwasrecorded

andthereweretwomoderatorspresentineachsession,toensurenoinformationwentmissing

andtofacilitateforaskingfollowupquestions.

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The moderators were planned to function as a guide for the sessions and provide an

unstructured setting to enable a freediscussion to bring out different views andperspectives

(Bryman&Bell,2007).Thechosenrespondentshadallworkedthereforalongtimetoensurea

deepknowledgeofthesubjectthatcomeswithexperience.

Additionally,we thought thatmoreexperiencedworkersare lessexposed to thepossibilityof

peerpressureandtheydonotfearspeakingtheirthoughtscomparedtoayoungornewworker.

Thenumbers of respondents in the focus groupwere sixpersons,which is in the spanof the

recommendednumberof individuals ina focusgroupaccordingtoBryman&Bell(2007).The

focusgroupwasheldinoneoftheemployees’lunchroomlocatedintheproductionsitehoping

ofcreatingasafeandpositiveambienceinsidetheroom.

Forthesamereasonsasintheinterviews,toensurethatanyimportantinformationwouldnot

be lost during the focus group session and to facilitate follow up questions based on the

respondent's answer, we chose to have two moderates present. Additional risk for

misunderstandings is that the focusgroupwere conducted in Swedishand thereby translated

intoEnglish.Toreducetheriskforerrors,werecordedthewholefocusgroupsessionsothatwe

bothcouldlistentotheanswersandthediscussionmultipletimeswhiledoingthetranslation.

Hence,weputalotofeffortandtimeinreducingmisunderstandingandmisinterpretationsthat

dependsonthetranslation

2.6ANALYSISYin (2012) presents a method for analyzing qualitative data in case studies called pattern

matching. Thismethod starts off with key assumptionswhen formulating research questions

andplanningananalyticalstrategyfortheanalysis.Duringthedatacollection,adjustmentswere

to be made regarding the composition and the direction of the study (ibid.). The pattern

matchingmethodisusedtofacilitatethecomparisonbetweentheempiricaldataandthetheory

inordertogetanunderstandingthesafetymotivationsystem(ibid.).

Bryman & Bell (2007) present two other general strategies when analyzing qualitative data;

analyticinductionandgroundedtheory.Analyticinductionseeksauniversalexplanationofthe

phenomenon until no cases are inconsistent with the hypothetical explanation (ibid.). This

approach starts out by formulating a broad definition of a research questions and later the

hypotheticalexplanationsareformedbeforethecollectionofthedata(ibid.).Groundedtheoryis

a“theorythatwasderivedfromdata,systematicallygatheredandanalyzedthroughtheresearch

process.Inthismethod,datacollection,analysisandeventualtheorystandincloserelationshipto

eachother”(Strauss&Corbin,1998).

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Thetwocentralaspectsisthatthedataisusedtodeveloptheoryandthattheusedapproachis

iterative,meaningthatthedatacollectionandtheanalysisisproceededinparallelandreferring

toeachother(Bryman&Bell,2007).

Our intention when conducting the analysis were not to formulate hypotheses, our research

questions were used as a guideline when collecting data and the deviations in the empirical

findingswouldnotbeusedfordefiningorredefininganhypothesisandthusanalyticinduction

wasnotasuitableapproach.

ANALYSISINTHISTHESISTheanalyticmethodusedforthisstudyispatternmatching,whichisthemostdesirablemethod

whenanalyzingcasestudiesaccordingtoYin(2012).Wechosethisapproachsinceitfittedour

strategy of analysis. We started out with key assumption of what creates safety motivation,

through thesixkey factorsbyHedlundetal. (2010;2016).These factorswere thebasewhen

formulating our research questions. The research questions and the data collection were

analyzed in relation to the theoretical references. Thus, the patternmethod is suitable when

conducting the analysis of our qualitative data. Additionally, we used the pattern matching

method when alternating between the annual reports and theories. To clarify themethod of

patternmatchinginourstudy,thefollowingstepsweretaken.First,thetheoryfunctionedasthe

base for formulating the research questions. The research questions were then used when

gathering the empirical findings. The empirical findings were then compared with the

theoreticalreferencestoenableananalysisofthefindings.

Theanalysis is the laststep inthemethod,which is toconnecttheempirical findingswiththe

theoretical frame of references, hence analyze the findings and formulate conclusions. A

qualitative analysis will be conducted based on the collected primary and secondary data

throughadeductiveapproach.Thepurposeoftheanalysisistoputtheprimaryandsecondary

data inrelationtoeachother inorderto fulfill theobjectiveof thestudy,andtherebyprovide

theanswerstotheresearchquestions.Further,theanalysispresentshowtheempiricalfindings

correspondwiththetheoryandwhatthesimilaritiesaswellasdissimilaritiesdependon.

Because of the study’s deductive approach, the compiled theoretical references stated in 3.7

Compilationoftheoreticalframeofreferences,whichbuildsonthesixcentralfactorsstatedin

the research problem, will work as the base of the analysis. The empirical findings will be

compared with the annual reports to get an understanding of how SSAB’s safety goals,

leadership, motivation system, etc., corresponds with the compilation of the theoretical

referenceframe.

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Weused triangulation in order to create amore reliable analysis andbeing able to formulate

conclusions and recommendations. This was made by analyzing our findings from three

perspectives; from themanagers’ perspective, the employees’ perception and the theory that

pervadestheanalysisasawhole.

Wewerealsousingmultiplesourcestoinvestigatethesamesubject; interviews,afocusgroup

and secondary data from the case company. A triangulated approach has the advantage of

canceling out the limitations of onemethod by using another, and thereby crosschecking the

findings(Bryman&Bell,2007).Thereasonforusingbothmanagersandassemblylineworkers

for the empirical findings was to investigate if the employees at different hierarchical levels

withinthecompanyhavethesameperspectiveofsafetymotivation.

Qualitativedataoftenresultsinagreatcollectionofdata,meaningthatitisdifficulttofindan

analyticpaththatwillresultinsignificanceforthebusinessortoshowatrueanalysis(Bryman

&Bell,2007).Toavoidthis,theanalysiswasbasedonthecompilationofthetheoreticalframeof

references.Thiswouldhelpdistinguishtheimportantempiricalfindingsthataretobe

comparedwiththetheoryandtherebydevelopacoherentanalysis.

Figure3.Schemedepictinghowtheanalysisforthisstudywasconducted.

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2.7VALIDITY&RELIABILITYTheconceptsofvalidityandreliabilityoriginfromthefieldofquantitativeresearchbutarenow

consideredtobeofequalimportanceforqualitativestudiestoensureasatisfactoryqualityofa

study (Denscombe, 2009). They are regarded as the foundation for social research designs

because of their great importance and relevance in establishing and assessing the quality of

research (Ritchie& Lewis, 2003;Bryman&Bell, 2007;Denscombe, 2009). In practical terms,

this means that when conducting a scientific study, it is important that the sources of

informationarereliable,preciseandsufficientlydetailedinordertoensurethestudy’svalidity

andreliability.

Validity concerns the quality of the data (Denscombe, 2009) and it’s often referred to the

precision and correctness of a research reading (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003). Validity is generally

explained as a conceptwith twodistinct dimensions, internal and external validity (Ritchie&

Lewis,2003;Bryman&Bell,2007).

Internal validity concerns whether or not there is a good match between the researchers

observations and the development of the theoretical ideas (Ritchie & Lewis, 2003). In other

words,itconcernswhetheryouare“investigatingwhatyouclaimtobeinvestigating”(Arksey&

Knight,1999).Externalvalidityontheotherhandreferstothedegreetowhichthefindingscan

begeneralizedacrossthesocialsettings(Ritchie&Lewis,2003).Thiscriterionisproblematicto

qualitative research because of their tendency to emphasize case studies and small samples

(ibid.).

Reliabilityisgenerallyperceivedastheconcernofthereplicabilityoftheresearchfindingsand

whetherornottheywouldberepeatedifsimilarorsamemethodwereused(Ritchie&Lewis,

2003; Bryman & Bell, 2007; Denscombe, 2009). Generally this involves an evaluation of the

techniquesandmethodsusedtocollectthedata.Theimportanceofreliabilityliesinthefactthat

researcherswant the results to show difference in the thing beingmeasured, and not due to

inconsistencyintheresearchprocess(Denscombe,2009).

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VALIDITYANDRELIABILITYOFTHISTHESISWehaveinpoint2.3discussedtheproblematicofexternalvalidityandthedifficultiesofmaking

asinglecasestudygeneralizable.Therewecametotheconclusionthat,inaccordancewiththe

argumentsofFlyvbjerg(2006),therecanbeaspectsthataregeneralizablefromoursinglecase

study. If the study is heavily impacted by personal viewpoint and bias, the study is not

generalizable which can be the case with interpretive studies. As we mentioned before,

interpretivism implies that the primary data is inevitably influenced by the researcher's

perspective and values. However, we have enhanced transparency by sending back the

transliterationstotheinterviewrespondentsaswefounditofgreatimportancetobeunbiased

whengenerating theprimarydata to enable generalizability. Concerning internal validity, our

theoreticalframeofreferenceswasbasedonscientificarticlesandfunctionasthefundamentfor

ourempiricalresearch.Thismeansthattheobservationisrelatabletothetheoryandthuswe

argue that we indeed have investigated what we intended to investigate and thus created a

crediblestudy.

Toenhancereliability,thefirststepwastogatherinformationabouttheadequatemethodsthat

canbeused for thisstudy.This informationwasgatheredthrough instructionalbookswritten

by reliable authors such asDenscombe (2009) andBryman&Bell (2007) regarding business

researchmethods. The different combination of approaches thatmakes up themethod,were

thenselectedandanalyzed inrelation toeachother toensure thequalityof theresearch.The

data collection were mostly conducted through the database from Linköping’s University,

UniSearch,toconfirmthatthedataisaccurateandrecordedcorrectly.Regardingthesecondary

data about SSAB, we used accurate and reliable sources of information to enable a credible

study.

To further strengthen thecredibilityof the study, the same interviewguideswereusedonall

participants. The questions were altered to fit into the respondent's position within the

companybutthequestionsimilaritiesencouragethestudy’scredibility.Theinterviewsandthe

focusgroupwereconductedlivetodecreasetheriskofmisunderstandingsandalsorecordedto

ensurenoinformationgotlost.Thechoiceofrespondentswasacrucialstepwhenconductinga

reliablestudy,henceweensuredthattheirknowledgewasadequateandthatallrespondenthad

enough experiencewithin the company to be sure thatwe received trustworthy and credible

answers.

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2.8RESEARCHETHICSA social research expects to be conducted in an ethical manner based on moral principles

(Denscombe, 2009). A ground rule is that the researcher needs to protect the interest of the

participants (ibid.). This means that the researcher should provide the participants with

adequateinformationsuchaswhyandhowthestudyisconducted.Ethicscannotbeignored,as

it relatesdirectly to the integrityof the researchand the involveddisciplines (Bryman&Bell,

2007).

Vetenskapsrådet (2002) have four ethical requirements for research. First, the respondents

must be informed of the objective of the interview, their voluntarily participation and that

everythingtheysaywillonlybeusedforscientificreasons(ibid.).Second,therespondentmust

give his or her approval for being interviewed and also be informed that they can end the

cooperation whenever they want (ibid.) The third ethical requirement is met when the

respondentpersonal record is held anonymous and that the sensitivedata is kept so that the

personwill remain anonymous (ibid.). The last ethical requirement ismetwhen the collected

dataisonlyusedforscientificreasonsandnotcommercialmeans(ibid.).

RESEARCHETHICSOFTHISTHESISWeusedtheethicalprinciplesstatedaboveasaframeworkoftherequirementsthathastobe

accomplished in order to ensure that the research was conducted in an ethical manner.

Thereforewestrivedtofollowallrequirementsstatedintheparagraphabove.Thisimpliesthat

ourresearch is transparent,meaning thatallparticipantswere informedof themethodsused,

thepurposeofthestudyandtheneedfortheirapprovaloftheirresponses.

Whencontacting therespondents,we informedallof themthat theywereparticipatingoutof

freewillandthattheycouldwithdrawatanytime.Beforethe interviewsandthefocusgroup,

we asked for permission to record the sessions. The respondents were also offered to be

anonymous,whichtherespondentsfromthefocusgroupare.Noneoftheiranswers,neitherthe

focusgroupnortheinterviews,willbepublished.

Another ethical aspect regards the secondary sourcesweusedwhen creating thebackground

andthetheoreticalframeofreferences.Wehavebeenclearwithreferringtotheoriginalauthor

nottotakecreditforwhatisnotours.Likewise,wehaveusedquotationmarksanditalicswhen

usingquotesinthetexttoclearlystatewhatarenotourownwords.

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2.9METHODCRITICISMCritique to our chosen method is that there is always the possibility for moderators to be

influenced by bias when conducting the interviews and focus group session. This might be

reflectedinhowthequestionsareaskedandhowtheanswersareinterpreted,andthusaffect

the objectiveness and credibility of the study. The moderators changed the order of the

questions toenhancethe flowin theconversation,accordingly to thesemi-structuredmethod,

whichcouldresultinaquestionbeingmissed.Theinterviewsandfocusgroupwereconducted

in Swedish and thereafter translated into English, which result in an enlarged risk for

misunderstandingsandmisinterpretations.

TheempiricalfindingswereonlygatheredfromonedepartmentatSSAB,thecontinuouscasting,

andfromoneproductionplantinSweden;Luleå.Ifthenumberofrespondents,departmentsand

productionplantshadincreased,thecredibilityofthestudywouldalsoincrease.

For example, interviewing the focus group closestmanager, the supervisor,would have been

favorable for the study. Itwould also be interesting to hear the views fromotherwork shifts

thantheoneweinterviewed,duetothatperceptionsmightliewithinagroupandnotjustonan

individuallevel.Thesubjectiveopinionsoftherespondents

The scientific perspective and the design of this research implies that the phenomenon is

studiedthroughtheinterpretationsandsubjectivethoughtsoftherespondents.Themethodof

interview and focus group in combination with the scientific perspective of interpretivism

impliesthatthefindingsareinevitablyinfluencedbytheresearcher'sinterpretationsandvalues

(Ritchie&Lewis,2003).Thiscanaffectthegeneralizabilityandthecredibilityofthestudy.

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3FRAMEOFREFERENCESThischapterpresentsthetheoreticalstandpointforthismasterthesisthatservesasthefoundation

forthegatheringof theempirical findingsaswellas formingtheanalysis.Thedispositionof this

chapterbeginswithacompilationofthetheoreticalframeofreferencestoaddressthetheoretical

key factors ofwhat creates safetymotivation and to enhance an understanding of the following

theories. The theoretical frame of references explains all the factors and aspects in the safety

motivationsystem.

3.1COMPILATIONOFTHEFRAMEOFREFERENCESThe theoretical standpoint in this study proceeds from the six central factors that together

createmotivation towards safety according toHedlund et al. (2010; 2016).Other researchers

have further supported these six factors, which enhances our systems’ credibility. The safety

motivationsystemisaremakeofasimilarmodelcreatedbyHedlundetal.,(2016)inanattempt

of developing a more distinct and understandable one, as we found the original model by

Hedlund et al., (2016) of being too complicatedby consisting of toomany elements.Wehave

compiled the elements into larger key words in order to create an understandable safety

motivation system. Our safety motivation system has safety motivation as a result from the

aspectsofsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance,whichisinoppositecomparingtoHedlund

etal.(2016)model.Thisisduetosafetymotivationisthedesiredendwithasafetymotivation

system.Oursystemaimstofacilitatetheunderstandingofwhatcreatessafetymotivationforthe

individual and explain how these six factors affect safety participation and safety compliance

that increase safetymotivation. The compilation is placed in the beginning of this chapter to

enlightenthekeyfactorsthatlaterwillbeexplainedindetail.

Asmentioned, safetymotivation is created by the six factors in the safetymotivation system.

Threeofthemareonanindividuallevel;theindividual'sperceptionofsafetybehavior,intrinsic

safety behavior and the perception of goal setting. The other three factors that creates safety

motivation derives from an organizational level; the goalswithin the organization, leadership

tactics and safety climate. The underlying aspects that are affected by the six factors above,

strongly relates to an individual's motivation towards safety. These aspects are safety

participation and safety compliance, which implies that the employees must understand the

safetygoalsandbeawareabouttheroutinestoenableasafeworkenvironment.

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Figure4.Depictsthesafetymotivationsystem.Safetymotivationstartsontwolevels;individualandorganizational.Thesetwolevelsconsistofthreefactorseachthataffectsafetymotivation.

Safetymotivationisadditionallystronglyaffectedbytheindividual'ssafetycomplianceandsafetyparticipation.(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016).

Leadership can be seen as the starting point for safety motivation. The management are

responsibleforsettingupgoals,securingasafeworkplace,motivatetheemployeesandcreating

aneffectivelineofcommunicationthroughouttheorganization.Additionallythemanagementis

liableforsettingagoodexampleregardingsafetyandtherebyenablesafavorablesafetyclimate.

This implies that the managers lead by example, to ensure all employees know about safety

regulations and that they are followed. It also includes implementing a safety concern as a

constant factor in theeverydaywork.Themanagement is responsible forsettingupclearand

hardbutachievablesafetygoalsfortheorganization.

From theemployees’perspective, a favorable safety climate implies that everyonehas to take

ownresponsibilityofworking inasafemannerandalsohelpeachother toperformthework

tasksinasafeway.Inotherwords,thetermsafetyclimatereferstoprocedures,practicesand

theperceptionofpoliciesattheworkplace.Thisstronglyrelatestothethreefactorsthataffect

safetymotivationonanindividuallevel.Forexample,thefactorthatconnectsgoalswithsafety

motivationistheindividuals’perceptionofgoalsetting.

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Theemployeesmustfeelthatthegoalsarerelevantandreasonableandthattheorganizationis

strivingtofulfilltheminordertoaffecttheirpersonalmotivation.Further,therequirementsfor

improvement are important for the perception of goal setting if the employees are to be

motivated.

Safetymotivationderivespartlyfromthefactorsofperceptionofsafetybehaviorandintrinsic

safetymotivation.Theperceptionofsafetybehaviorincludestheindividual’sperceptionoftheir

participation and compliance in combination with the leadership when improving the

workplace.Itisimportanttoensuretheemployee’sparticipationinthesafetyworkasitaffects

safetymotivationconsiderably.Theperceptionofsafetybehaviorislargelyaffectedbyhowthe

managementcommunicatessafetyconcernsandattitudes,whichagainstressestheimportance

ofleadershipforcreatingsafetymotivation.Theintrinsicsafetymotivationisenhancedbyself-

preservation,meaning that the individuals are participating in safety improvements and take

owninitiativetowardsasaferbehavior.

Insummary,safetymotivationstartsonbothanindividuallevelandonanorganizationallevel

accordingtothesafetymotivationsystem.Theperceptionofsafetybehavior,theintrinsicsafety

motivation and the perception of goal setting affect safety motivation on an individual level.

From an organization level, safety climate, leadership tactics and the safety goals affects the

motivation towards safety. All of these six factors affect the aspects of individual safety

compliance and safety participation, which ultimately creates safety motivation among the

individualsinaworkforce.

3.2MOTIVATIONMotivation is apsychological term for the factors that evoke, shapesanddirect the individual

behavior towards various goals (Nationalencyklopedin, 2016a). Usually, a distinction ismade

betweenprimaryandsecondarymotivation.The firstbeingbiologically inducedandthe latter

beingformedthroughsocialandculturallearning(ibid.).Another,yetunanimous,definitionof

motivationis“thesetofpsychologicalprocessesthatcausetheinitiation,direction,intensity,and

persistenceofbehavior”(Fey,2005).

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3.2.1WORKMOTIVATIONTomotivatepeopleintheworkforce,apositivereinforcementisoftenusedtocreateapositive

consequence and thus increase the frequency of the desired behavior (Dipboye et al., 1994).

Positive reinforcement will have the best effects when disposed at an irregular basis so the

workforcewillnotbeable toknowwhen toexpect the incentive, therefore theywillbemore

alert the whole time (ibid.). Negative reinforcement involves the removal of a negative

consequence, suchas critique, also inorder to increase the frequencyof thedesiredbehavior

(ibid.).Otherwaystomotivateemployeestodowhatisdesiredistousepunishmentwhenthey

arenotbehavinginasatisfyingway(ibid.).

To encourage people in the work force, external motivational factors is often used. That is

necessaryforsomeemployeestostrainthemselvestoworkhardanddoasatisfyingjob,while

forotheremployeesitiscrucialforthemtoovercometheiraversiontodoadifficultortedious

work task (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012). Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are

distinguishedbasedonthedifferentgoalsorreasonsthatevokestheaction,e.g.themotivation

(Ryan&Deci,2000).

3.2.2INTRINSICMOTIVATIONIntrinsicmotivation is defined as “doinganactivity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for

someseparableconsequence” (Ryan&Deci,2000). Ifanemployee is internallymotivated fora

task,hewilldothetaskbecauseofthefunorthechallengeentailedandnotbecauseofexternal

pressureoranincentive(ibid.).Intrinsicmotivationisoftenabaseforeducationsinceitresults

inhigh-qualitycreativityandtraining.Therefore,itiscrucialtoknowwhatfactorsthatcauses,

or undermine it (ibid.). Behaviors that are intrinsically motivated are performed out of the

person'sowninterestandisthereforetheprototypeofself-determinedbehavior(ibid.).

Intrinsic incentives derives from the satisfaction of completing an assignment and reaching a

goal,whereas themotivationcomes internally,meaning thatnothing isgiven to theemployee

(Anthonyetal.,2014).Intrinsicincentivesareforexamplethesenseofaccomplishingagoalor

achievingthedesiredresult(Merchant&VanderStede,2012).

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3.2.3EXTRINSICMOTIVATIONExtrinsicmotivationisdefinedas“aconstructthatpertainswheneveranactivityisdoneinorder

to attain some separable outcome” (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Hence, extrinsic motivation is the

opposite of intrinsic motivation where the motivation lies within the task itself. Extrinsic

motivationoccursonlywhentheindividualexpectsanincentiveorexperienceexternalpressure

andcontrolthatarenotrepresentedofone’sself.Theexecutionofthetaskismadebecauseof

anexternallyseparableconsequence(ibid.).

Extrinsic incentives state the employee gets his or hermotivation externally, for example by

financial incentives for completing an assignment (Anthony et al., 2014).Merchant&Vander

Stede(2012)arguethatextrinsicincentivesareusedwhenlinkingtheresultsanemployeecan

affectwithan incentive, financialornonfinancial, to influence theemployee toact inacertain

way.

3.2.4INCENTIVESYSTEMSANDITSPURPOSEIncentives are a performance-dependent reward in an attempt to align the employees’ self-

interest with the organization's goals and objectives (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012). The

incentives provide three benefits according to management control, these benefits are 1)

informational for the employee to know what behavior that is desirable and important, 2)

motivationalandeffortinducingfortheemployeeand3)attractionandretentionofpersonnel

(ibid.). This is in line with Maslen & Hopkins (2014), who argue that incentives influence

prioritiesandbehavior,whichinadditiontapsonavarietyofhumanmotives,suchastheneed

for approval and the need of being recognized. This means that incentives can be used as a

motivationalstrategyforsafetyandaccidentprevention(Maslen&Hopkins,2014)

Incentive systems are made to encourage and motivate employees to achieve and reach a

predefinedgoal;itcouldforexamplebebasedonquality,productivityorprofitforthecompany

(Svensson, 1997). The purpose of the incentive is to create a more effective and better

organization.Thestaffsaretobemotivatedtoperformworktasksbetterandberewardedwhen

resultsaremet.Thereforetheincentivesystemmustbedesignedsotheemployeesareableto

affectandimprovetheirworkunits’results(ibid.).

There are several different types of external motivations, here incentives, divided into the

groupsof financial andnon-financial incentives.The financial incentives aremainly fixedpay,

bonus and stock options. The non-financial incentives are on the other hand based on work

satisfaction, such as attractive working conditions, flexible working hours and generous

amountsofleisuretimeetc.

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However, adoptingonly one typeof incentives could cause considerabledysfunctional effects.

Forexample,ifyourelysolelyonfinancialincentivesyoumayencourageshort-termactionsthat

arenotinthelong-terminterestofthecompany.Thisoftenplaysoutwhenmanagerschoosenot

to undertake promising long-term investments that will hurt short-terms financial results

(Anthonyetal.,2014).

Groupincentivesarepositiveforcreatingastrongcultureamongemployeesandenableculture

control for managers (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012). The employee might be affected

positively, and by peer pressure promote cooperation and start monitor each other in an

attempt to sanction imperfect actions and behavior (ibid.). Additionally, the employeesmight

also feel more included and engaged in the organization, which can affect the productivity

positively.

On the other hand, group incentives can be less useful since they are not as effective as

individual incentives regarding theeffects (Merchant&VanderStede,2012).Theyarenot as

directorstrongasanindividualincentive,sincetheemployeeswhoarereceivingtheincentive

mightnotfeelthattheycaninfluenceresults,ofwhichtheincentivearebasedon(ibid.).Group

incentiveswillprovideadilutedmotivationaleffectwhenbasedontheperformanceofa large

group, for example thewhole organization, since no individual can affect the outcome (ibid.).

Merchant&VanderStede(2012)arguethatgroupincentivesalsomightincreasetheriskoffree

riders and slack. Another risk with this kind of incentive plan is that lower-level employees

chanceofreceivingtheincentivearemuchmoreuncertainandvolatileandtheirmotivationare

notaffected inapositiveway(ibid.). Individual incentivesmightencouragecompetitionanda

will to enlighten their individual accomplishments instead of pointing out the organizations

achievements (Merchant & Van der Stede, 2012). Competition can be very effective for

effectivenessandefficiency(ibid.).

3.3MOTIVATIONTOWARDSSAFETYSafetymotivationisdefinedbyNeal&Griffin(2006)as“anindividual’swillingnesstoexerteffort

toenactsafetybehaviorsandthevalenceassociatedwiththosebehavior”.Thisdefinitionstatesa

relationship between safetymotivation and safe behavior; the stronger the safetymotivation

are,themorewillingemployeesaretopracticesafebehavior.Consequently,safetymotivationis

crucialforasafeworkplace(ibid.).

Asstatedinthebackground,incentivescanhaveanegativeeffectonprocesssafety,whichwas

thecase in theBPoil spillwhere thesafety focuswasprimarilyonpersonal safety (Maslen&

Hopkins,2014).

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Incentives are usually used as a strategic motivation tool to increase financial and business

performance, consequently neglecting safety orminimizing its role to personal safety for the

employees. Therefore, just as you motivate in order to reach corporate goals it can also be

importanttoincludeanindicatorintheincentivesystemthattargetsandsupportssafety(ibid.).

Motivation towards a certain goal can only be achieved through learning and involvement;

hence,themanagersmustactivelyinvolvethepersonnelintheworkofdevelopingprocedures

andprovideknowledgeaboutsafetyforittobeobtained(Hedlundetal.,2010).Additionally,the

managersmustprovideaclearstandpointandanopencommunicationwith theemployees to

influence them to improve theirwork climate (ibid.). Hedlund et al. (2010) argue that safety

motivationstartswithgoodleadershiptacticsanddistinctgoalsthatwillaffecttheworkclimate

andfurther,safetymotivation,seefigurebelow.

Thetermsafetyclimatereferstotheprocedures,practicesandtheperceptionofpoliciesatthe

workplace(Hedlundetal.,2010).Clarke(2006)definessafetyclimate incorrespondencewith

the frameof referencesof thebehavior andattitudesof individuals andgroupsof employees,

andshe furtherargues that thesafetyclimatewillaffect theemployee'saccident involvement.

Safety participation and safety compliance are voluntarily behavior carried out by the

employees,andisbasedonsafetymotivation.Theleadershiphasacrucialrolewhenitcomesto

promoting safety, for example, safety participation leads to higher safety motivation on an

individual level, since participation are rewarded and encouraged and not just following

procedures(Hedlundetal.,2010).Safetyparticipation,whichisimportantforasafebehavior,is

positively affected by participationmotivation and safety knowledge (Clarke, 2006). This put

evenmorefocusonthemanagementandtheircapabilitytopromotesafety(ibid.).

There isasignificantrelationshipbetweensafetyparticipationandsafetymotivationsincethe

engagementinsafetyactivitieswillincreasethesafetymotivation(Clarke,2006).Clarke(2006)

arguesthatsafetyparticipationwillresultinorganizationalrewards,whichfurtherincreasethe

motivation,thispositiveeffectmightinfluenceotherworkrelatedattitudesandthuscontribute

toenhancingthesafetyclimate.Safetycompliancewillreducetheriskforaccidentsassociated

withunsafepracticesandviolationsofrules(ibid.).Safetyparticipationandsafetycompliance

are important factors for motivation towards safety, and thus the likelihood of occupational

injuriesandindividualaccidentsinvolvementswilldecrease(ibid.).

Safety participation is a direct source of motivation for the workers to comply with safety

standards, hence a direct relationship with safety participation and safety compliance exist

(Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).

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This is due to the employees’ active participation in improving the work conditions will

positivelyaffect thesafetycompliancetosafetystandardsandprocedures(ibid.).Additionally,

safetyparticipationhasadirectpositiveeffectontheemployeesatisfaction.Fernández-Muñizet

al.(2014)thereforearguesthatthemoreinvolvedanemployeeisandthemoreactivelyheor

sheparticipateinthesafetywork,thegreaterhisjobsatisfactionwillbe.

3.4GOALSGoalsettingisawaytomotivateworkers,toreachapredefineddestination(Locke,1968).This

meansthatgoalscanbeseenastheobjectiveoraimofanaction(Locke,1991).Goalscanalsobe

divided inan internalandexternalaspect.The internalaspectrefers togoalsasan ideaanda

desired end. Externally, they refer to the object or condition sought, for example a certain

performancelevel(ibid.).

Thereisastrongrelationshipbetweentaskperformances,theintentionalbehaviorandreaching

aconsciousgoal.Locke(1968)states that theharderagoal is, thebetter theoutcomewillbe.

This is based on three findings; 1) difficult goals result in higher level of outcome than easy

goals,2)specificdifficultgoals result inhigher levelofoutcomethanambiguousgoals,and3)

choicebehaviorareregulatedbybehavioral intentions.Locke(1968)arguesthatsettinggoals,

thatarehardandspecific,arecrucialfortheworkoutcome.

Svensson(1997)opinesthatagoalhastobebothmeaningfulanddescribeanessentialresult

fortheorganizationtobeconsideredasgood.Thepurposewiththegoal istogivemeaningto

theorganizationanddirectboththeorganizationandallemployeestowardsachievingthelong-

term goal through the short-term goals (ibid.). A satisfying goal should be a challenge and

encourageorganizationalaswellaspersonaldevelopment(ibid.).Svensson(1997)arguesthat

thereshouldbeaconnectionwiththedesiredoutcome,thegoal,theresourcesandproduction

toenablemeasuringtheeffectivenessofthecompany.

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3.5SAFETYMOTIVATIONTHROUGHLEADERSHIPAstrongleadershipandthesafetystandardconductedbytheleaderisshownbystudiestohave

alargeimpactonsafetymotivation(Andriessen,1978;Clarke,2006;Baker,2007;Hedlundetal.,

2010;Hedlundetal.,2016).Theleadersplayasignificantrolewhenpromotingsafetyatwork

(Andriessen, 1978). Andriessen (1978) refers to a study on the relationship between style of

leadership and safety. The conclusion to this study showed that accidents occurred relatively

more when: “1) the leader behaved autocratically; 2) the communication between leader and

groupmemberswaspoor;3)theleaderdidnotgivecleardirectives;4)theleaderwasconsidered

tobelesscapable”(ibid.).

Asecondstudyregardingthesafetyofworkbehavioritself,foundthatworkwillbedonemore

safelywhenthefollowingpointsapplysimultaneously:“1)safetyisimportanttothesupervisor;

2)thesupervisorgetsalongwellwithhismen;i.e.,canpreventconflictsinthegroupandisreally

involvedwithhismen; 3) the supervisor is a goodorganizer; 4) the supervisor can influencehis

superiors”(Andriessen,1978).Thelast iteminparticularstressesthesignificanceofthepolicy

amongthetopmanagement,whichwillaffectthebehaviorofsupervisorsandworkers(ibid.).

Asearliermentioned, the safetyclimatecanaffect thenumberofaccidents theemployeesare

involved in (Clarke,2006).Akeyelementwhencreatingapositivesafetyclimate is related to

the employees’ perception of themanagement values and their commitment to safety (ibid.).

Thus, the safety climate will encourage safe behavior and safety participation through the

employees’ perception of theirmanagers’ safety values (ibid.). This puts a large focus on the

behaviorandattitudesofthemanagers.Clarke(2006)arguesthatthesafetyclimatewithinan

organization has a significant, but lagged, effect on the safety participation but not on safety

compliance. This means that the safety climate has an important role when influencing the

adherence and the devotion to procedures (safety compliance) but a crucial role when

influencing the employee commitment and involvement in safety work (safety participation)

(ibid.).

Clarke & Ward (2006) argues that a supportive and influential leadership style affect the

employeesattitudesandbehavior.Theseinfluencetacticscanbeusedtogainsupportforsafety

policies and to motivate the employees to implement them (ibid.). Safety compliance can be

controlledandinfluencedbythemanagersinaformalwaybutsafetyparticipationontheother

handisavoluntarilyactivityandis therefore influencedby leadershiptacticstoa largeextent

(ibid.). There is a strong relationship between the leadership style and the employee taking

safetyinitiatives,whichstressestheimportanceofit(ibid.).

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ThistheoryisinlinewithAndriessen’s(1978)studyregardingleadershipstyleandsafety;the

managerscanstronglyinfluencetheemployee'sbehavior.Thisemphasizetheimportanceofthe

leadershipevenmoresinceDonald&Young(1996)stressthatthehumanfactorisanessential

part of the organizations performance. This means that the leadership is a critical factor for

safetymotivationandthus,thesafetyperformance.

3.6RISKMANAGEMENTTHROUGHLEADERSHIPRiskmanagementisanimportantleadershiptacticwhencreatingasafeworkenvironment.Risk

managementisdefinedasanactivitythataimstolocate,identifyandquantifythevariousrisks

that the company faces and takes appropriate measures to reduce or eliminate them to the

extentdeemedadequate(Nationalencyklopedin,2016b).

An unsafe behavior is often the results of underlying defects in the organization and

management systems that predispose workers to act unsafely (Kawka & Kirchsteiger, 1999).

Safetyparticipationandsafetycompliancedirectlydependsonthelevelofdevelopmentofthe

riskmanagement,sincethismanagementconsistsofpracticesthatfocusintheimprovementof

workers’motivation, awareness, knowledge and skills.Aproactive riskmanagementdoesnot

alonehavetoleadtoareductioninaccidentsorinjuries;itcanhowevermotivatetheemployees

tosafetyparticipationandsafetycompliancewiththesafetyrulesbyloweringtheaccidentrate.

This can in return lead to a source of motivation for the workers to comply with the safety

standards,sinceemployee'sactiveparticipationintheimprovementofworkconditionsandin

safetydecisionsshowtopositivelyaffectthecompliancewithsafetystandardsandprocedures

(Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).

The leadership style and leadership tactics directly affects a proactive riskmanagement. The

leadershipstyleshouldreflectthemanagement'scommitmenttoworkplacesafetybyallocating

both human and financial resources in order to make the implementation of proactive risk

managementpossible(Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).Theleadershipstyleofbeingarolemodel,

being supportive and show commitment is of great importance regarding improving safety

motivation since it has a direct, positive effect on safety participation and safety compliance

(ibid.).The leadershiptacticscanalso influencetheemployeesatisfactionbytransmittingthat

themanagementistrulyconcernedabouttheirhealthandwellbeingatwork(ibid.).According

toFernández-Muñizetal.(2014),aninspirationalandcommittedleadershipstylewillaffectthe

safety behavior via the riskmanagement and the safety outcomes via safety compliance, and

thusthesafetymotivationamongtheemployees.

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3.7FACTORSEXPLAININGSAFETYMOTIVATIONThere are three factors that explain why, and how, safety motivation occurs according to

Hedlundet al. (2010).These are theperceptionof safetybehavior, intrinsic safetymotivation

andtheperceptionofsafetygoalsetting(ibid.).

PERCEPTIONOFSAFETYBEHAVIORPerception of safety behavior includes the individual's perception of their participation and

complianceincombinationwiththeleadershipwhenimprovingtheworkplace(Hedlundetal.,

2010).Italsoincludestheperceptionofparticipationandresponsibilitiesfortheemployee,the

co-workersandthemanagement(ibid.).Themanagementaffectstheemployee'sperceptionby

communicatingsafetyconcerns,knowledgeandempoweringattitudes(Hedlundetal.,2016).

TheperceptionofsafetybehaviorisadditionallystressedbyClarke(2006).Shestatesthatthe

employees’perceptionofthesafetybehavioramongthemanagerswill largelyaffectthesafety

climateandfurthertheemployees’safetymotivation,throughtheirperceptionofthemanagers’

safetyvalues(ibid.).

INTRINSICSAFETYMOTIVATIONIntrinsic safetymotivationsderive from the individual perceptionof theworkplace’s need for

improvementsand the individual'sdegreeofparticipation (Hedlundet al., 2010).Further, the

intrinsicmotivationforsafetyincludestheperceptionofparticipationinsafetyimprovementsas

wellasthesignificanceofconsultationandinitiativefromtheindividual(ibid.).

PERCEPTIONOFSAFETYGOALSETTINGThisfactorinvolvestheperceptionofhowthefirmsetsgoalsforsafetyandworkssystematically

towards them (Hedlund et al., 2010). Intrinsic safety behavior derives from the individual

perception of the firm's presence and fulfillment of goals, the requirement of performance,

appreciationfrommanagersandworkplaceimprovements(ibid.).

Thesethreefactors(perceptionofsafetybehavior,intrinsicsafetymotivationandperceptionof

safety goal setting) has been the base when creating the model seen below (Hedlund et al.,

2016).Safetyknowledgehasbeenincorporatedaswellassafetytraining,whichinfluencesthe

safety behavior and safety motivation. The aspects of extrinsic motivation and intrinsic

motivationareadded to illustratehow itaffects safetybehaviorand finally, safetymotivation.

The figure below is a remake of Hedlund’s et al. (2016) model of how safety motivation is

created.

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Figure5.Apathdiagramdepictingthefactorsthatcreatessafetymotivation.Thereafterleadingtoasafeworkplacethroughsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance.

(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016).

To summarize this theory, the perception of safety behavior, intrinsic safety motivation and

perception of safety goal setting are highly influenced by the individual's perceptions and

participation.Iftheemployeeishavingahighdegreeofparticipation,itislikelythathewillhave

anincreasedmotivationforsafety(Hedlundetal.,2016).Additionally,themanagersaffectthe

employeetoagreatextentbytheirbehavior,goalsetting,andenablingemployeeparticipation

andprovideknowledge(ibid.).

Bakeretal.(2007)arguethatapositivesafetyclimateisimportantforsafetyintheworkplace.

TherecommendationsforagoodprocesssafetyclimatestatedbyBakeretal.(2007)regarding

factors such as leadership, employee empowerment, incorporation of process safety into

managementdecision-making,aremuchinlinewiththeabovementionedfactorsbyHedlundet

al.(2010;2016).

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4THECASECOMPANYSSABThischapterwillpresentthecasecompany,SSAB,theproductionprocessandproductionrisks.The

chapteradditionallyhandlesthesafetygoalswithinthecompanyandtheproactivesafetywork.

4.1WHYISSSABANADEQUATECASECOMPANY?SSABwaschosensince itoperates inahazardousbusinesswithamanufacturingprocess that

includes high risks on a daily basis for the employees and the surrounding environment. The

companydealswithbothprocess-andpersonalsafetyissues.SSABfulfilledallourrequirement

of1)beingSwedish,2)operatesinahazardousbusiness(steelmanufacturing),3)havinghigh

safety standards and 4) accidents do occur. Thismakes it an adequate company to conduct a

studyonregardingsafetymotivation.

4.2PRESENTATIONOFSSABSSAB is a global Swedish steel firm with ancestry from 1878, with headquarters located in

Stockholm.Theyarea leadingproducerofhigh-strengthsteelwithmainproductionsplants in

Sweden, Finland and the US and has approximately 16 000 employees in 50 countries. They

strive forglobal leadership invalue-addedhigh-strengthsteel,being themost innovative firm,

buildinglong-termcustomerrelationsandbeingagloballyrecognizedbrand.SSAB’svisionisto

createastronger,lighterandmoresustainableworld.SSABislistedontheNASDAQStockholm

andhadnetsalesof60billionSEKin2014.(SSABinbrief,2016)

Figure6.IllustrateswhereSSABproductionsitesarelocatedaswellassalescoverage,theproductionsitesinSwedenareinBorlänge,OxelösundandLuleå.

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4.3SSABONESSABOne isasharedmanagementphilosophywiththeobjectiveto liveuptoSSAB’svisionof

buildingastronger,lighterandmoresustainableworld(AboutSSAB,2016).SSABOneencircles

SSABinordertoverifythatthecompany’svaluesandprinciplesaresculpturedandconducted

inthesamewayeverywhereintheorganization(ibid.).

“SSABONEenhancesthecompany’sapproachtoimprovementworkbypresentingafreshmindset,

amindsetthatisbuiltoneliminatingbarriersasafunctionorhierarchyandcultivatingahighly

involving and cooperative climate where all employees get to have an impact on the future of

SSAB”(AboutSSAB,2016).

SSAB One is a newway of controlling the companywith its base in the concept of lean (the

servicemanager). It is anewwayofmotivatingemployees towardsbeingmoreengagedwith

the company and with the job of improvements for both safety and for productivity and

efficiency(ibid.).WhenworkinginaccordancetoSSABOne,therearecriteriafortheemployees

to live upby. These are; being a good rolemodel, creating results, contribute in thework for

improvementsandgeneratingenergyaswellasbeingateamplayerwiththeabilitytohaveself-

perception(ibid.).

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4.4STEELPRODUCTIONTheproduction sites inSwedenuse iron-oreandareblast furnacebased.Theblast furnace is

filledwithironore,cokeandcoalthatisheatedandreducedsoliquidmetalcanberecovered.

Next step is sending the hot liquid metal to the desulfurization and throughout the

manufacturing chain to the BOF converterwhere alloys are added to the steel. The steel are

poured intoa largecontainerthatholdsapproximately140000kg liquidsteelat1500°Cand

thensenttotheCAS-OBforalastadjustmentandrectificationwithalloysbeforeitissenttothe

last step in the chain, the continuous casting. The continuous casting department produces a

longcontinuouspieceofsteel.Itiscoggedintomoremanageablepiecescalledslabsandlaidto

cooloffbeforetheyaresenttothecustomers.

Figure7.Illustratingthesteelproductionlinefromironoretosteel.

THEMANUFACTURINGPROCESS–CONTINOUSCASTINGThis section explains the manufacturing process in the continuous casting, since this is the

departmentwheretheemployeesfromthefocusgroupandtheproductionunitmanagerwork.

When thesteel in the ladlereaches thecontinuouscasting ithaspassedall theotherstations,

fromthemelting in theblast furnace to theCAS-OBwherealloyshavebeenadded togive the

steelthespecificcharacteristicsofthisparticularcharge.Acranethenliftstheladleupintothe

casting tower so that the steel can be drained into themolding box, where temperature and

qualitycontrolsaremade.Fromthemoldingbow,thesteelflowsintothechillandfurtherdown

inthemachinewherethesteelcoolsdownandisformedintoalongstring,thisprocessiscalled

continuouscasting.Whenthesteelcomesoutofthemachine,thestringofsteelhascooleddown

enough so it can be cut into smaller andmoremanageable pieces called slabs. The slabs are

readytobesenttothecustomerassoonastheyhavecooledcompletely.

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4.5PRODUCTIONRISKSThepersonalrisksmostlyinvolveextremelyhightemperatureduetotheprocessofmeltingore.

The temperature on liquid steel are between 1200°-1500° C. Besides the risk of burns, the

employees are exposed to poisonous gases such as benzene and carbon hydroxide, therefore

there is a requirement for gasmask and gas detector attached to yourworkwear. There is a

broadspectrumofpersonalrisksthatislinkedwiththedifferentworkduties.However,dueto

that thisresearch isbasedonthe laststepof theproduction, thecontinuouscasting, the focus

willbeonthemainpersonalrisksthatareevidentthere.

Due to the manufacturing process, SSAB has the risk of causing larger emissions of carbon

dioxidethanwhatispermitted.Anadditionalhazardousriskisthepossibilityofsulfurdioxide

orbenzeneemission,whichwouldbeveryharmful for theenvironment.Theuseofhydrogen

andoxygen,amongothergases, cancauseexplosions ifnothandledcorrectly.Theproduction

causes decay products, for example tar, that are both highly flammable and poisonous. This

placesahighdemandforsafety.

4.6SAFETYGOALSSSABstrivestobethesafeststeelcompanyintheworldandthegoalconcerningsafetyiszero

accidentsperyearandzeroworkrelateddiseasesorinjuries(SSABAnnualreport,2015).Their

highestpriorityistoensureasafeandsecureenvironmentforallemployees,entrepreneursand

visitors(ibid.).Toobtainthisgoalofzeroaccidents,SSABhasmultiplesafetyregulationsaside

from following the Swedish work environment health laws. SSAB have a risk management

departmentthatassessesallriskswithinthecompany(ibid.).

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SAFETYPRECAUTIONSAt SSAB, all employeeshave apersonal responsibility ofworking in a safemanner everyday.

ThisisafundamentalrequirementinordertoworkforSSAB(SSABAnnualreport,2015).Safety

fortheworkforceisanimportantpartoftheoperationandit’slargelyimplementedthroughout

themanagementandorganization(ibid.).Toachievethegoalofzeroaccidentsperyear,SSAB

hasstatedthefollowingpoints:

o Ensurethatsecurity isconsideredinallactivitiesanddecisionsthroughout

thewholefirm.

o Cooperate to prevent accidents and work related diseases by identifying,

assessingandeliminatingtherisks.

o Systematically identifyandeliminate theunderlyingcausesof theoccurred

accidentsandevents,inpurposeofpreventingthemfromhappeningagain.

o Ensure so that the management are responsible for the workplace

environment. This implies that themanagersmust stop thework tasks to

instructthecolleaguesorthesuppliersiftheworkisnotconductedinasafe

manner. All work that is not carried through in a safe manner will be

stopped.

o Ensure that all managers lead by example. They are responsible for the

workingenvironmentandmustthereforebeagoodrolemodel.

o FulfillorexceedalltheimplementedrulesandrequirementsstatedbySSAB.

o Setcleargoalsandcarrythroughwithregularmonitoringtoensurethatthe

goalsaremet.

Furtherstepstowardsthegoalofzeroaccidentsperyearisasafetyunitthatwasformedinthe

last couple of years, that is supposed towork on a local basis to support the everyday safety

work (SSAB Annual report, 2014). Every SSAB manufacturing unit has their own firefighter

departmentandemergencynumbertoreducetheimpactifanaccidentoccurs.

Due to themanufacturingprocess risks, specialworkgears aremandatory for theemployees.

Thework gear includes flameproof clothes, from theunderwear, shirts, socks to trousers and

jacket.Allemployeesmustwearhelmetsallthetimeaswellasbootswithsteeltoecap.Incertain

partsoftheproductionchainthereisalsoamandatoryrequirementforgasdetectorsandsafety

goggles.

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5EMPIRICALFINDINGSTheempirical findingsarebasedon two interviewswithmanagers; theservicemanagerandthe

production unitmanager, and one focus groupwith employees from the continuous casting, all

employed at SSAB Luleå. The disposition is of descending hierarchical order, starting with the

servicemanager Peder Sundbom, followed by the productionunitmanager Lotta Jakobsson and

last, the focus group with assembly line workers from the continuous casting. The interview

questionnaire isbasedonthesafetymotivationsystemtoconnecttheempirical findingswiththe

study’sobjectiveandresearchquestions.

5.1INTERVIEW-THESERVICEMANAGERPeder Sundbom is the service manager at SSAB Luleå. He has worked at this position since

October1st,2015.Hispreviousoccupationwasatbusinessservice,SSABBorlänge,andhehas

previously worked at Plannja, within the SSAB Group, for 25 years. Sundbom has gradually

workedhiswayupfromthebeginningasa truckdriver, tobeingunionrepresentativeandso

on.Hiscurrentoccupationasservicemanagerhasinthisspringincludedmultiplenegotiations

withthemetaluniondueto thecutbacksSSABare facingbecauseof lowprofitability.Regular

jobassignmentsforSundbom,asaservicemanager,includeshumanresourcemanagement,staff

planning and human capacity building. The following empirical findings are based on the

interviewconductedwithPederSundbom,theservicemanageratSSABLuleå.

5.1.1WORKMOTIVATIONInitially, the servicemanager points out that SSAB sees safety as their main priority even at

timeswhenthecompanyisfacingfinancialproblems.Hestatedthatthereisalwaysalargefocus

on safetyand thatallmanagersmotivate towardsa safebehavior.Forexample, themanagers

hold a dailymeetingwhere they go throughmishaps, accidents and safety related goals. For

SSAB, safety is not only about accidents but also about taking care of theworkers out on the

assembly line and ensure that they both physically andmentally feel good every day; before,

duringandafterwork.Thisisnotonlyinpurposeofmotivatingtheemployeestowork,butalso

duethefactthatapersonthatfeelsgoodismostlikelytoperformasafeandsatisfyingjob.

Besidespersonalhealth,thereareothermotivationalbenefitsofworkingatSSAB.Oneofthese

is the internalmobility, i.e. the possibility thatwithin SSAB change job position if desired, to

develop and educate theworkers further.Much of thework at the assembly line is based on

knowledgeandthereforeoneofthegoalsforSSABistohavealowemployeeturnover.

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The internalmobility is away for SSAB tokeep the employees and theknowledgewithin the

company.

When it comes to safetymotivation through financial incentives, the servicemanager argued

thatsuchasystemwouldbecounter-productiveinregardsofsafety.Hebasedthisargumenton

the fact that theworkers, inorder toachieveaparticularsafetygoaland thusget thereward,

wouldchoosenottoreportaccidents.Thedecreaseinreportedmishapsandsmalleraccidents

wouldconsequentlyhaveimplicationsonthesafetywork.Therearenofinancialincentivesfor

production either, because the dynamics and the relationship between the assembly line

workerswouldbeharmedbecauseallemployeescan’tcontributeequallytotheproduction.The

servicemanager argued further that productivity bonus systems and other external financial

incentivesarewithdrawn,sinceSSABdoesnothavethenecessaryfinancialresourcestoapply

thesesystemsintimesofpoorprofitability.Inordertomotivatetheemployeesdespitethelack

ofafinancialincentivesystem,SSABhasincorporatedtheideathateveryemployeehastwojobs

parallel to each other; first the regular everyday job and second, the job with workplace

improvements. This aims to encourage the employees’ engagement and participation in

improvementsandideas.

Moreover,SSABtriestomotivatetheemployeesbySSABOne,whichisabusinesscontroltool

withitsbaseintheleanconcept.Duringthetimesoflowerprofitabilityitishardertomotivate

theemployeesandbecauseofthatSSABlosealotofcompetence.

5.1.2SAFETYGOALSThe aimwith SSAB’s safety goals is to reduce the ill health number in general; the ill health

numbersincludebothlargeraccidentsthatcauseLTI(LostTimeInjury)andsmalleraccidents

such as crushing- and slipping injuries and smaller burns. The safety objectives varies from

short-termgoalsthatspanoveroneyearandlong-termgoalsthataresethighbutrealistic;the

goalofbecomingthesafeststeel-manufacturingfirmintheworld.Othersafetyrelatedgoalsare

meant to reduce the ill health numbers in general, reduce the number of accidents,make the

employee feel safe and secure in theworkplace andprovide rehabilitationwhenneeded. The

goalwiththerehabilitationprocess ismeantprimarily fortheemployeetogethishealthback

and be able to return to his job duties. If this is not possible, the employee is providedwith

anothertemporaryjobuntiltheycangetbacktotheiroriginaloccupationortheywillbeoffered

a new permanent job. Vacancies are first and foremost to be filled from the company’s

rehabilitation list before the option of external recruitment is taken into consideration. These

rehabilitationstepsaremeant tokeeptheemployeeswithin thecompany,butalso todevelop

personnelbetweentheworkunits.

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Theservicemanagerexplainedfurtherthatthemoreyouknowabouttheproductionchainthe

morevaluableforthefirmyoubecome,butitwillalsoincreasetheenjoymentfortheemployee

towork.

It is common tohave a conflict between safety andproduction goals, for SSAB this conflict of

goals has however been reduced today compared to a couple of years ago. This is due to the

strongsignalsanddirectionsfromtheownersofSSABandthemanagementtoactivelystriveto

performaworktaskonlywhenit’ssafe.Themainreasonforthissafetydevotionisthefactthat

whenSSABiscomparedwithothersfromthesamebranch,theyarestatisticallynotasgoodas

theywanttobe.

Thesafetygoalsare followedupeveryyearwithvarioussafetymeasuresbeingreviewedand

actionplansbeingdeveloped.Headdedthatdespitethefactthatthemanagershaveconveyed

the safety objectives through the regular chains of communication, through managers to the

workers,theworkplacemeetings,thesafetycommitteeandthemetalunion,notallemployees’

areawareofthesegoals.

5.1.3RISKMANAGEMENTEvery day at SSAB the production unit manager, the technicians and the supervisor hold a

meetingwithsafetybriefingwhereearlierday'seventsarediscussedaswell asothercurrent

safetyissues,suchasevacuation,LTI,mishaps,incidentsetc.Theriskmanagementisforemost

basedonmappingoutwhenandwhere incidentsandmishapsoccur inpurposeofpreventing

these risks so the possibility of these happening in the future is reduced or diminished. To

facilitatethisjob,itisrequiredbytheallworkers,frommanagerstoassemblylineworkers,to

reportallaccidentsandincidentsinthecomputer-basedsystemformanagingaccidents;MIA.If

anaccidenthas led tosick leave it isalsorequiredthat thesupervisor intervenesandprovide

theupperlevelmanagementwithinformationregardingtheevents,whyithappenedandwhat

canpossiblebedoneaboutit.EveryaccidentandmishapissupposedtobereportedinMIA,no

matterhowsmallitis.Theservicemanagermeantthattheincreaseinincidentsbeingreported

inMIA,impliesthattheyhavesucceededinimplementingastrongsafetyfocuswithinSSAB.

Hebelievedthatmanyaccidents,especially thesmallerones,happenbecause theworkersare

doing the job in the most comfortable way, for example not bothering to walk around an

obstacleonthegroundandinsteadsteppingoveritandthereforefall.Anotherreasonmayalso

bethattheemployeewantstodoagoodjobandworkquicklyandthusaremorelikelytocause

anaccident.Thisistheoppositefromthedirectionsthemanagementhasgiventotheworkers;

“safetyshouldalwaysbeprioritizedbeforeproductivity”.

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To promote safety, there are explicit directives from the management to be followed by the

employees. There is for example the 30 seconds rule where the employee stops and thinks

throughallriskfactorsbeforemakingadangerousjob.Evenifthedirectivesarefollowedatall

time, the safety concerns shouldalwaysbe incorporated in theemployee'smindset.However,

thedirectivesaresometimesnotpursuedduefactorssuchasstress,pressuretoreachacertain

productivityobjectiveetc.

5.1.4LEADERSHIPSSAB one is a new leadership philosophywhere themanagement shifted the role frombeing

hierarchical to a more flat, supportive and coaching one. Unfortunately, this has not been

greetedassomethingpositiveamongtheemployees.TheythinkthatSSABOnehasonlybrought

more paper work, which differs a lot from how the management wanted the shift to be

perceived. SSABwant to promote a better work climate through SSAB One by implementing

employee criteria of being a good role model, creating results in the production, have self-

awareness,contributeintheimprovementwork,beateamplayeraswellasgenerateenergy.

Theservicemanagerexplainedthattheabilitytobesensitiveandresponsiveisaveryimportant

quality formanagers.Thismeansthatthe leadershipshouldenableatwo-waycommunication

that is open and transparent. He added that every employee should dare to speak up to the

managers, even if it involves criticism or just questioning something. Being curious and

questioning is not seen as negative attribute of a worker, it rather reflects engagement and

takinginterestinthework,whichissomethingthatSSABwantstopromotemore.Theservice

managerfurtherarguedthatasamanager,wealwayshavetomotivatetheemployeestowards

commitment.Thiscanbedonebytryingtomaketheemployeesenjoyworkevenmorethanthey

do. Further, a forgiving attitude is important according to the service manager, because

everyonedoeswrongatsometime,especiallyasanewlyemployed.

The current topic at SSAB Luleå is of gender characteristics. The topic handles how we are

treated and how we want to be treated at work. SSAB has promoted gender equality by

campaignstryingtoattractmorewomenintoapplyingforjobsintheirorganization,withtothe

goalofhiring50%women.Additionally,SSABisworkingwithattitudesandjargonamongthe

managersandemployeestoaddresshowtheybehavetowardseachotherinordertoenhancea

positiveworkclimate.

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5.1.5SAFETYCLIMATEThe prevailing climate at SSAB is investigated through surveys taken by both employees and

substituteworkers.Thesesurveysaremadetoenlightentopicssuchassexism,equality,racism,

biasandother issues. Ithascometo themanagementknowledge thatsomepeoplehavebeen

badly treated,which is rarebutneveracceptableatSSAB. Ingeneral, thesesurveysshowthat

theassemblylineworkersatSSABthrivealongsidetheirco-workersandmanagers.Besidesthe

gender and genus education the management takes, there is no further plan in how to

strengthentheclimateatSSAB.However,theservicemanagerbelievedthattheemployeesneed

moremotivationandencouragementafterthisspringinconnectiontothelateststaff-cutbacks

withinSSAB.

ThegeneralclimateatSSABcanbeperceivedashardandmasculinewhichistruetoacertain

extent. This means that following safety regulations is sometimes seen as less manly, for

example ignoring toputonsafetygogglesetc.Theservicemanagersaid that thoughtssuchas

“whyshouldamanagercomeanddecidewhatIshouldwear"existamongsomeoftheemployees.

The macho-culture is however diminishing due to the recruitment of more women. The

recruitmentpartisaneffectivewaytogetamoretolerableandtolerantclimate.Awaytorecruit

womeninthismaledominatedbusinessisduringthesummer,SSABhasthegoalofhiring50%

women during the vacation period. SSAB has set up this campaign in order to attract more

women and it has been very successful. The servicemanager argued that the hiring ofmore

womenhasbeenmetpositivelyamongtheemployeesbuthe isalsoawarethattherearemen

whofeelexcludedandnotaswelcomedaswomentoapplyforasummeremploymentatSSAB.

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5.2INTERVIEW-THEPRODUCTIONUNITMANAGERLottaJakobssonhasbeenemployedforSSABsince2001.InFebruary2012shegotpromotedto

the position of production unit manager for the continuous casting. The production unit

managerspendsmuchofhertimeintheofficewithadministrativetaskssuchasgoalstrategic

initiatives,safetyissues,facility-specificissuesattheCAS-OBandcontinuouscasting,andquality

monitoring. Jakobssonalsoparticipates in thedailymanagementof theproductionwhere she

goestoadailymeetingwiththesupervisorandthetechnicians.Thesemeetingsfocusprimarily

on the quality- and production issues. The following empirical findings are based on the

interview conducted with Lotta Jakobsson, the production unit manager at the continuous

casting,SSABLuleå.

5.2.1WORKMOTIVATIONOnthequestionofhowthemanagementatSSABmotivatestheiremployees,theproductionunit

managerrespondedwith; "if itonlywere for the salary, Idonotknowhowmanywould stillbe

here".By thisshemeant that there ismuchmorethan just thesalary thatmakespeoplecome

heretowork.Theproductionunitmanagerbelievedthattheprofessionalism,prideofSSAB,and

agoodatmosphereatworkarethebiggestfactorsofwhatinfluencetheemployees’motivation.

The possibility for an employee to influence the organization is very important for one's

motivation,aswellastheabilitytomakedecisions,beresponsibleandtakeresponsibility.The

production unit manager also states that the varying workload, depending on the overall

situation and economic cycle, affects the work motivation positively for the assembly line

workers.

Theproductionunitmanagerperceivednolargerdifferenceintheemployees’motivationafter

the old incentive system was removed. That systemmeant that the employees could submit

their suggestions for improvements,whichSSAB thenvaluedanddependingonhowgood the

suggestionsweretheypaidoutasumofmoneytotheemployee.However,thereisanongoing

discussiononhowimprovementworkshouldbeconductedandhowmotivationiscreatedwhen

theemployeesdonot receive financial incentives for it. In the same time, theproductionunit

managerthoughtthatfinancialincentivesdonotworkinmotivatingemployeestocomeupwith

suggestions for improvementor improvementworkoverall. Shebelieved that recognitionand

acknowledgement in the senseofbeing seenandpraised ismore important.Theworkersare

still stuck in the past of receiving money as an incentive for their improvements, which

complicatestheworkmotivationnowwhentheincentiveisonlythroughappraisal.Thereisan

ongoingstruggleofmaintainingafunctioningfeedback.

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Safetymotivationisnotaffectedbyfinancialincentivesinthesamewayasmotivationtowards

improvements. Shebelieves that the shift teams and their colleagues create safetymotivation

internally because they want to improve their own working environment and create a safe

workplace.

Atpresent,anewpayrollsystemisunderdevelopmentfortheassemblylineworkersatSSAB.

This system isnot intended to serveasanextra incentive,but rather tohelp themanagers to

reward and encourage desirable behavior; it becomes amotive for the extramoney and thus

createsmotivation.Thispayrollsystemisanextensionofthecurrent"blocksystem",whichhas

shiftedthefocusfromwhatyoudo,tohowyoudoit.Thissystemisnotcontrolledbywhattasks

you are able to do. The extra salary is based on SSAB's own employee criteria and how you

performtheworkyoudo,meaningthat thesafetyaspect is includedasamajorpartof it.The

SSAB employee criteria is that you should be a good role model, creating results in the

production,haveself-awareness,contributeintheimprovementwork,beateamplayeraswell

as generate energy (the servicemanager). The production unitmanager argued that because

thissalaryadd-onisabrandnewconcept,theguidelinesanddirectivesmustbeclear.Theidea

isthatthesupervisornominateswhoshouldreceivetheadditionalwageandwhy.Thereisstill

an ongoing process of what the precise criteria for receiving this salary add-on and how it

shouldbepaidout.Theproductionunitmanagerfeltthatthisnewsalary-concepthasreceived

goodresponseamongtheemployeesintheproduction.

5.2.2SAFETYGOALSThemainsafety-relatedobjectivefortheassembly lineworkers iszeroLTI,whichmeanszero

accidentsthatresultsinlossofworkinghours(theproductionunitmanager).Furthermore,one

objectiveisthateachworkermustcompleteatleastonesafetyinspection,andbeingpresentin

atleastoneriskassessment-andriskmanagementsession.There'salwaysadiscussionofhow

tomake the safetywork function even better and the question of howwemake thiswork in

practiceattheassemblylinelevel.

Themanagementconveysthegoalstotheassemblylineworkersonceayear.However,mostof

the safety goals are standardized and very comprehensive which leads to that many of the

workersareawareof them.Afollow-upof thegoalstakesplacethroughan informativeboard

thatservesasa linkbetweentheassembly lineworkersandmanagers.Therearesupervisor's

committees,managementgroupsandsafetyinspectionmeetingsthathandleeverythingrelated

to safety such as safety goals and safety ratios. In more intractable goals, action plans are

preparedinadditiontotheregularwork.

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The production unit manager explained that there might be conflicting goals between

productivityandsafetybecauseof thegeneralbig focusSSABhasonproductivityandquality.

However, this has been improved over the years and now the greatest focus lies strictly on

safety. Even quality should be prioritized over productivity, a high quality ismore important

thankeeping theproductiongoing just for thesakeof it.Thissafetymentalityhasbeenreally

difficult to implement in the assembly lineworkersmindset, as it is often perceived as being

wastefulandtimeconsumingtostoptheproduction.Theworkersstrivetoconstantlykeepthe

productiongoing,andtheyusuallydoeverythingtheycantoavoidstoppingit.“Weexplaintothe

workersthattheymuststopproductionnotonlywhenitcomestoone'ssafetybutalsowhenthe

qualityislacking”.Routinesandcleardirectivesfacilitatetheassessmentofwhenthecontinuous

castingandotherproductionshouldbestopped.Lookingat thebiggerpicture, theproduction

unitmanageraddedthatthereisgoodbalancebetweenproductivityandsecurityrelatedgoals,

andseeninrelationtotheworkloadthereisalargefocusonsafety.

5.2.3RISKMANAGEMENTFromthemanagementside,therearecleardirectivesonsafetyregulationsregardingworkgear,

such as helmet, eye protection, proper shoes and fireproof clothing (the production unit

manager).Shestatedthatitworksprettywell,exceptfortheusageofeyeprotection,i.e.safety

goggles.Theadaptiontotheserequirementstakestime,assomeofthedirectivesarerelatively

new.Earlier,theworkershadtousethesafetygogglesatcertaindangerousmomentsandnotat

alltimeslikeitistoday.Safetygogglescanalsobeaproblemfortheworkersthathaveavisual

defect. This problem is handled by raising the issue of safety goggles and other protective

equipmentincomplementtotheoverallfocusonsafety.

When the assembly line workers do not follow the safety regulations, there are certain

procedures for the management to follow. The production unit manager perceived that the

management isoften toonice; “when someonedoesnothave the rightprotective equipmenton

andtherebynotfollowingthesafetyregulations,theywillbereprimandedandiftheystilldonot

followthedirectivestheywillbereprimandedagainandsoon”.Theservicemanagerarguedthat

these issues should be checked harder and that the safety oversteps should lead to real

consequences so that hopefully these employees will start to follow the safety regulations.

Furthermore,theservicemanagermeantthatifit'sallowedtooverstepthesafetyregulations,it

ispracticallylikeremovingsafetyconcernsalltogether.

Thereason forneglecting theusageofcertainsafetyregulations isbelievedby theproduction

unitmanagertobeduetothatemployeesovertimehavedevelopedasortofoverconfidencein

thewayofthinking;"I'veworkedherefor30yearsandithasalwaysgonewell".

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Another reason is that you are copying the behavior of others, both consciously and

unconsciously. Italsohappens thatothersareendangeredbecauseof the ignoranceregarding

thesafetyregulations,whichisabsolutelyunacceptable.

The production unit manager explained that the most common accidents in the continuous

casting are to get something in the eye and slipping- and tripping accidents. Considering that

thereisliquidsteelintheworkplace,burnsareperceivedasthemosthazardousrisk.However,

steel related accidents are very rare. These risks aremanaged by the requirement that every

employeeshouldbeawareoftherisksinvolvedinthejob,andtheprecautionsthatneedstobe

taken.Furthermore,itisimportanttoreporteveryincidentinMIAtokeepstatisticsinorderto

seewhere therisksareand fix thembeforeanyaccident takeplace.Therehasbeenanotable

increaseinthereportingofincidentsinconnectionwiththeincreasedfocusonsafety.

5.2.4LEADERSHIPTheleadershipaspectisveryimportantforsafety.Itisgoodtoremindandtoberemindedifone

happens to forget any aspect regarding safety. This can however lead to only chasing the

problems instead of focusing on what is actually good (the production unit manager). It is

important thateveryonetakesresponsibilityandremindseachotherof thesafetyregulations,

regardlessofwhoitis,inorderforustocreateanevensaferworkplace.

The production unitmanager stated that the communicationmust be improved, for example

throughthesign-liststhatensuresthatallpartieshaveaccesstotheinformationputforward.In

thiswayitispossibletokeeptrackofwhattheinformationtellsus,fromwhoitisandwhowill

beaffected.Thisfurtherfacilitatesverifyingiftheinformationhasbeenreceived,itisalsomakes

it easier for the concerned parties to submit comments regarding the new information.

Moreover,theproductionunitmanagersaidthatthereshouldbeimprovementsof“seeingthe

needs”,inadditiontoimprovingcommunication.

The supervisors are immensely important seen from a safety perspective because they are

alwaysthereifanaccidenthappen.Theyhavetheresponsibilitytotakecareofanyinjured,call

the ambulance, etc. It is imperative that the supervisor understands the importance of safety

because of the responsibility they have. They also need to be a good rolemodel as they are

alwaysinthelimelight.Whenthereisadiscussionofwhycertainrulesexistthesupervisormust

be well informed about the underlying causes in order to communicate these in a credible

manner.Theproductionunitmanagerindicatedthatthereisneveraproblemofgettingthrough

withthenewsafetydirectives,asthesupervisorsoftenrequest it themselvesandtheyusually

appreciatethedirectivesgiven.

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5.2.5SAFETYCLIMATETheproductionunitmanagerexplainedthatthemanagementatSSABnowhasrecognizedthat

problems related to jargon, prejudices and attitudes exist. There is an ongoing discussion to

drawattention to theseproblems andhow they shouldbehandled.An importantpart of this

workisthesurveythatallsummeremployeesfillinattheendofeachsummer.Thisisduethe

factthattheseopinionsareverysensitiveandthereforeitisdifficultformanagerstobereached

bythistypeofinformation;“itwouldbeimpossibletojustwalkintoacontrolroomandaskhow

people think about these things” (the production unit manager). It is important to have open

communication so that if problems arise, and the employee feel that they cannot talk to their

supervisor,theyshouldfeelcomfortableenoughtocontactanymanagerorthecorporatehealth

service.

A further step in thisworkwithattitudesandclimatewithin theorganization is themeetings

andlecturesSSABhaveongenderandequalityissues.Thisisbecauseit iseasytogetstuckin

oldwaysofthinkingwiththeprejudicesandbiasthatmightexist.Thepurposeistorecognize

that gender issues isbothanorganizationalproblembut also anopportunity.Genderwork is

totallynewforSSABanditisthefirsttimeithasbeenaddressedinthisway.Theworkwillbe

precededwithmorelectureswiththeaimofincreasingtheunderstandingofhowitaffectsthe

organization. Although attitudes and gender equality have not previously been highlighted as

clearlyasit istoday,thereisstillabigdifferenceonhowtheorganizationisfunctioningtoday

seen from these aspects (theproductionunitmanager).There isnodivisionofmale jobs and

femalejobsandthereisanoverallacceptingattitudeintheorganization.

SSAB works hard to get a more equal organization, especially during the summer employee

recruitmentwherethetargetis50%offemaleemployeesintheworkforce.Theproductionunit

managerbelievedthatthishasbeenmetverypositivelybothinternallyandexternally.Mostof

the regular staff are looking forward to the summer employees andwelcomes the fact that it

bringsalotofnewbloodintotheorganization.Anotherimportantadvantageofthisisthatthe

summer employees see things with fresh eyes, which help highlight problems in the

organizationastheygettheopportunitytoraisequestionsandinfluencetheorganization(the

productionunitmanager).

Theorganizationalclimateissomethingthatisbuiltupovermanyyearsandtheworkisusually

doneinacertainway;"becauseyouhavealwaysdoneitthisway"(theproductionunitmanager).

Alargeshareoftheregularworkersaremen,whichcanleadtoamachoattitude;“itgetsalittle

more manly to cut corners or take a shortcut” (ibid.). This behavior can increase during the

summerperiodwhentheworkforceconsistsofmenofallagesandwomen20-25yearsold.

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Thismakes themen in certain situations act evenmoremacho.Theproductionunitmanager

doesnot feel that there aredifferences in the safety relatedworkbetweendifferent teamsor

workgroups.

The climate in the organization depends largely on peer pressure, says the production unit

manager;“youwanttofitinwiththeteam,whetherornotitisgoodorbadbehavior”.Thereforeit

isimportantthatyougetagoodstartatthecompanyandstepdirectlyintoafavorablebehavior.

Thisalsoputsagreaterpressureontheregularemployeesduringthesummerperiodwherea

lot of new employees are hired. One problem with peer pressure and group behavior is the

desiretofitin,whentheregularsupervisorisgoneandthusthesupervisorrollgetsdelegatedto

oneof the regularworker. This implicates aspects regardingwork attitudebecause youdon't

knowifheis"amanageroroneintheteam",saystheproductionunitmanager.

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5.3FOCUSGROUP-THEASSEMBLYLINEWORKERSThesixassemblylineworkerswhoparticipatedinthefocusgroupwereallmenandemployed

bySSABformanyyears.Theyworkasproductionoperatorswithmixeddutiesatthecontinuous

casting. They all have good insight in the production and the safety work. The participants'

average number of years employed in the organization SSAB is 27.8 years and the average

number of years at the continuous casting is 16.2 years. The following empirical findings are

basedonthefocusgroupsessionconductedwiththeemployeesfromtheassemblylineworkers

atthecontinuouscasting,SSABLuleå.

5.3.1WORKMOTIVATIONAllworkers agreed that theirmainmotivation stems from internalmotivation.Theywork for

each other and they enjoy the company of their colleagues, which contributes to a good

atmosphere thatseemstohaveapositive impactontheoverallmotivation.There isageneral

ideathattheoutcomehastobegoodbecausethecustomersmustbesatisfied,whichultimately

affectsthedemandandtheiremploymentatSSAB.AllareawarethatSSABmustretainagood

reputationandbeable toproduceasatisfactoryresult. Itappearshowever that there is some

dissatisfaction regarding themotivationwhen one of the workers says; "there are no carrots

left". Before, there were some incentives but now we get nothing. Another agreed with the

commentbytellingthat;"theyhaveevenbroughtinthecakesatmeetingsandthatwouldn'teven

entailanyrealcost".Athirdfillsin;"theincentivesdoesn'thavetobeanythingbigorlavish,just

somethingthatshowsthatthemanagersactuallyappreciateus"Despitethisdiscontent,thefocus

groupstilltalkedabouttheimportanceofquality,thatthecustomersmustbesatisfiedandthey

allwantittogowellforSSABbecauseintheendtheywantthecompanyandthisplanttostayin

thisregion,statingthat;”it'squitealrighttoworkhere”.

During the discussion it became clear that the old system, where they could get a financial

incentiveforimprovementproposals,aremissed.TheybelievedthatSSABreceiveconsiderably

fewer proposals nowwhen the systemwith proposalwork is embodied in the regularwork.

Furthermore,thefocusgroupsuggestedthatanextrashiftteamparty,dinnerorjustsomething

as simple as pizza for the team that presented the best improvementwould serve as a good

motivationaltooltoactuallytakeonthechallengeoffiguringoutgoodimprovementproposals.

All argued that a small incentive is enough tomake them feel appreciated and enhance their

motivation.Theelementofcompetitionalsomakesitmorefun.SSABOneisbroughtupinthis

discussion; "SSABOne is justaquestionof findingall theerrors,never tocreate improvements".

ManyexperiencedSSABOnetoonlyinvolvedocumentationandadministrationwork.

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Regardingsafetymotivation, it'snothingthatneedstobemotivatedexternally.Allagreedthat

theywant a safeworkplace and that they should feel goodwhen arriving towork aswell as

whentheyleaveforhome.Italsoappearsthateveryonefeelssecureintheirworkplacebutthat

theyhavetorespecttheproductionasitinvolvesmanyrisks.Allfeltthatthefocusonsafetyhas

been growing over the years, which is evident in many ways, everything from the increased

pressuretoreportincidentstotherequirementsforwearingsafetyclothingtoasaferandmore

manageableworking gear. These changes have taken place not only due to the directives put

forwardby themanagementbut alsobecause the staff themselveshas requested changes.No

one in the focus group believed that motivation to come up with safety proposals could be

encouraged through financial incentives; "one wants to participate in safety improvements to

influencepositivelytotheworkplace,bothforyourownsakebutalsoforyourfellowcolleagues".

The new proposal for the salary add-on based on how you perform your job is not greeted

positively by the focus group. They all are concerned about the problems of subjectivity that

comesalongwithit,whowillassessthecriteriaandifitispossibletodesignthecriteriainafair

manner so that an objective assessment of the workers can be done. The fact that the

supervisors should be the one that nominates the worker or workers were met with mixed

thoughts.Positiveopinionssuchas;"yes,theproductionmanageristheonlyonewhoknowshow

you actually work" were mixed with more doubtful comments such as; "when you see the

manageryouwillsuddenlyputonthegogglesandgooutandsweep"and;"ifyoutaketheFriday

off, the salary-add on will be gone". All agreed that it would require very clear guidelines so

everyoneknowswhatisvalidandwhatshouldbeachieved.Everythingisuptotheirsupervisor,

which ispartlyperceivednatural sinceheorshe is theonlyonewithaneyeonhowtheyare

working.Theyalsothinkthatthesupervisorwillgetalotofpowerinconnectiontothesalary-

add on. No one considered that this salary-add on would be motivational, not for the

productivity,norforqualityorsafetyaspects.

5.3.2SAFETYGOALSTheemployees in the focusgroupwereall awareof the safetyobjectiveof zeroaccidentsbut

experiencedthatgoalsarenotthehighestprioritytobecommunicatedtothem.Theyallthought

thatitisagoodgoaltohaveevenifitmightbehardtoobtain.Additionallythefocusgrouphad

knowledgeaboutSSAB’sobjectiveofbecomingtheworld'ssafeststeelmanufacturingcompany.

The safety regulations have beenwell communicated so everyone knowswhat rules apply to

them;whentowearthesafetygear,howtoactinasafewayetc.Themanagershavebeenclear

thatsafetyisalwaysprioritynumberone,beforeproductivityandquality.

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They perceived that the manager would always be supportive in their decision to stop the

productionifsafetywasatstake.Tenyearsago,theydidnotfeelthatSSABhadthesamesafety

focus and to always prioritize safety first. Nowadays, none in the focus group would feel

questionedorimposedguiltuponfromthemanagersiftheydecidedtostoptheproductionor

doanythingelsetoputsafetybeforeproductivity.

5.3.3RISKMANAGEMENTToreporteveryincidentandaccidentinMIAisanimportantstepinriskmanagementhowever

thefocusgroupsaidthatsmallerincidentsandaccidentsarenotalwaysreportedin.Thereason

isthattheyfeelittakestoomuchtimetoreportinMIAanditiseasytothinkthatyouwilldoit

later,butthenyouforgetaboutit.

If safety regulations are not followed, nothingwill happen according to the focus group; “the

managerwillletyouknowthatyouaredoingwrong,butnothingmoreandnorepercussions”.The

reasons for not following safety regulations are because of laziness, out of habit, it is

inconvenientanditishardtolearntoputonsomethingnew.Forexamplethenewdirectiveof

alwaysusingsafetygogglesanditcanbeverywarmtouseallsafetygearsduringthesummer.

The focus group stated that there is not much to do regarding the regulations that are not

followed.Iftheyweretodoamoredangerousjobthat includesmorerisks,theywoulduseall

the required working gear and follow all the regulations. No one would put a co-worker in

dangerordoanythingthatcouldharmanotherperson,everyonetakecareofeachother.They

were aware that they might be seen as bad role models for new co-workers and substitute

workersduringthesummer.Asonesaid;“they(i.e.thesubstituteworkers)aredoingasweare

doing,notaswetellthemtodo”.

Theemployeesinthefocusgrouparguedthattheyatmosttimesfeelsafeatwork.Duetothat

everyone knowwhat to do andwhen to do it, they believe that they all are very skilled and

experienced. The risks increase during the summer since half of the ordinary staff are on

vacationandisreplacedwithnewinexperiencedsubstituteworkers.Thefocusgroupstatedthat

thesubstituteworkersaremore likely tobeatriskofanaccident thanthem.The focusgroup

experiencedthatthelargestrisksareduringthechangeofsegmentsandthechangeoftundish

and steel ladle. The risks include burns, falls and slips. They explained that it is important to

haverespectforthejobtheyareperformingsinceitalwaysincludesrisks,yettheydonotfeel

unsafeatwork.

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5.3.4LEADERSHIP“The top managers are quite inaccessible and we don't see them very often which makes the

communication and feedback very poor”, said one of the respondents. Everyone in the focus

groupagreedandonecontinuedwith;“itseemsasifnobodycares,theonlychanceforfeedbackis

at the workplace meetings and only then”. They perceived that the communication has never

beenaspooranddeficientasitisnow;“IoncebroughtupaproblemIexperiencedandIonlygot

redirected to a higher level in the organization, in the end nothing really happened. It’s getting

worse andworse.We rarely see the productionmanager and still they talk about feedback and

communication,but it’snotworking, there’snot evena functioningone-waycommunication”. In

general, the assembly line workers were not satisfied with the communication within the

companyandfeltalackofrecognition.Thefocusgrouparguedthatthemanagersarenotgood

atlisteningtothemandtheiropinions,exceptforthesupervisor.

Whenitcomestoattitudesandhowworkersbehave,inthepastthemanagerscouldturnablind

eyeorevenbetheoneswhoweretheworstatfollowingsafetydirectives.Todayit'sdifferent,

nowthemanagersareshowingagoodexampleonhowtobehaveandithasdoubtlesslyaffected

usintheassemblylineinapositiveway.

5.3.5SAFETYCLIMATEAs the focus group stated earlier, they are aware of them being bad examples for new co-

workers and substitute workers. They state the importance of learning to behave correctly

immediatelysinceitishardtolearntodosomethinginanewordifferentway.Despitethisfact,

theydonot change their behavior during the summerbut they instruct all newemployees of

howtoact,whattowearandhowtofollowallsafetyregulations.

Thefocusgroupdidnotperceivetheclimateattheirworkplacetobehardandmasculine,nor

did they think there is a macho attitude. In general, they felt that the safety climate is well

incorporatedwithin the companyand that the climate is open, friendly andenjoyable.Asone

stated; “the climate is sometimes very hard but always warm and hearty”. He explains that

sometimessomeonecanpickona co-worker forbeing too safetyorientatedoras they say “a

chicken”but it is never serious.They all feel that the overallwork climate change during the

summerwhentheratioofwomenintheworkforcegrowstoapproximately50%,allagreethat

itaffectstheworkpositivelyintoawarmer,friendlierandmorefunworkambiance.

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6ANALYSISTheanalysis that follows isbasedon the theoretical frameof referencesaswellas theempirical

findingsfromthetwointerviewsconductedwithmanagersatSSABLuleåandthefocusgroupwith

employeesfromtheassemblylineatthecontinuouscasting,alsoatSSABLuleå.Thedispositionis

inlinewiththeempiricalfindingsinchapter5,tomakeacoherentstudy.Thustheanalysisbegins

with safety motivation followed by the remaining key concepts. In order to provide a

comprehensivepicture,thechapterwillconcludewithananalysisofthesafetymotivationsystem.

6.1SAFETYMOTIVATIONAcommonwaytoencouragepeopletoworkistouseapositivereinforcement,anincentive,to

motivatetheminacertaindirection(Dipboyeetal.,1994).Theservicemanagerdoesnotbelieve

in financial incentiveswhen itcomestosafetymotivation.Hearguedthata financial incentive

gives the employees the encouragement to not report accidents in order to claim the safety

bonus. An accident, small or big, can if reported prevent serious accidents in the future and

thereforebeoflong-terminterest(ibid.).ThisisadditionallystressedbyAnthonyetal.(2014)

who argue that if the employees are motivated only by financial incentives, the short-term

actionscanbeenhancedmorethanthelong-termfocus.Thefocusgroupagreeswiththeservice

managerabouttheimportanceofreportinginaccidentsandincidentsinMIA.Thisbehaviorcan

beexplainedbyNeil&Griffins(2006)thesisthatthereisastrongrelationshipbetweenasafe

behaviorandsafetymotivation;theemployeeswanttobesafeatworkandthereforeenablethe

safetywork.Theservicemanagermoreovermeansthatmotivationtowardssafetyneedsother

sources ofmotivation than financial ones, for example internalmotivation such as thewill to

work in a safe manner. However, according to Merchant & Van der Stede (2012) external

motivation is necessary for some employees to strain themselves to work hard and to do a

satisfyingjob,whileforotheremployeesitiscrucialtoovercometheiraversiontodoadifficult

ortediousworktask.ThisisinlinewithBakeretal.(2007)whoemphasizethatjustasyougive

incentivesforproduction,safetyshouldbeofnoexception.

Theproductionunitmanager’sopinionsregardingsafetymotivationaremuchin linewiththe

servicemanageropinions.Theproductionunitmanagerdoesnotbelieve financial incentive is

neededforsafetymotivation,howevershethinksitcanbeneededformotivatingtheworkfor

improvements. The employees create the motivation for safety, and safety related

improvements,internallyandtogetherwiththeco-workersbecauseyouwanttoimproveyour

workplaceandstriveforasaferworkenvironment,saystheproductionunitmanager.

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Sincetheemployee’ssafetymotivationderives internally, it is importanttoknowwhatfactors

that causes or undermine themotivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000). The service manager and the

productionunitmanagerviewofwhatcreatessafetymotivationiscontrarytoHedlund’setal.

(2010; 2016) and Andriessen’s (1978) theories that safety motivation starts with good

leadership.

6.1.1INTRINSICSAFETYMOTIVATIONIntrinsic motivation is defined by Ryan & Deci (2000) as “doing an activity for its inherent

satisfactionratherthanforsomeseparableconsequence”.Itmeansthattheemployeewilldothe

task because of the fun or the challenge entailed and not because of external pressure or an

incentive (ibid.). This thesis is strongly supported by the empirical findings from the focus

group, they all agree that there is no need for external safety incentives; they allwant a safe

workplace and to be able to come home safely every day and therefore participating in the

proactivesafetywork.Hence,theirsafetymotivationderivesinternally.Thisisalsoinlinewith

Neal&Griffin’s(2006)definitionofsafetymotivation;“anindividual’swillingnesstoexerteffort

to enact safety behaviors and the valence associated with those behavior”, which implies the

relationship between safety motivation and safe behavior. It also relates to Hedlund’s et al.

(2010;2016)factorforsafetymotivation;intrinsicsafetymotivation.

Theintrinsicmotivationisbeneficialsinceitcanbeusedasabaseforeducation;ifapersonis

internallymotivatedforatask,itismorelikelythatheorshewilldoahigh-qualityjob(Ryan&

Deci,2000).Tobeabletotakeadvantageof the internalmotivation, themanagementmustbe

awareofwhatcausesthemotivationtoarise(ibid.).ThisisinlinewithHedlund’setal.(2010;

2016) theories that state that individual safety compliance and safety participation is crucial

whencreatingsafetymotivation.Onepersoninthefocusgroupsaid“youwanttobeapartofthe

safetyworkandtheworkforimprovementstoaffecttheworkplaceinapositivedirection,foryour

own sake but also for your co-worker”. This means that this employee is considered to have

motivationforsafetywhenapplyingHedlund’setal.(2010;2016)theoryaboutintrinsicsafety

motivation and the perception of safety behavior; the individual's perception is that he is

participatingandcompilingwiththeleadershipandthesafetywork.

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6.1.2WORKMOTIVATIONTheservicemanagerarguethatSSABtriestoexternallymotivatetheassemblylineworkersby

striving to provide a physical and psychological well-being before, during and after work. A

healthy andwell-beingworker is besides being overallmoremotivated is alsomore likely to

workinasafemanner(ibid.).ThisisconformingtoRyan&Deci(2000)whoarguethatexternal

motivation occur when the individual experience external pressure and control that is not

representedofone’sself.TheservicemanagerfurtheremphasizetheworkSSABdoestogivethe

employeesopportunitiesofeducationtoeventually,ifdesired,climbupthehierarchicalladder

(ibid.).Regardingexternalmotivationexpressedinbonusesorotherfinancialgroupincentives,

the servicemanagermeant that itwould have a negative effect on the relations between the

employeesandthegroupdynamic.Thiscanhappenforexamplewhenanemployeethinksthat

someoftheco-workersareslackingandthusdemandsmoreofthem,maybemorethanwhatis

reasonable, inordertoclaimtheincentive(ibid.).ThisisinaccordancetoMerchant&Vander

Stede (2012) that group incentives can lead to a monitoring of each other in an attempt to

sanctionimperfectactionsandbehavior.

The production unit manager argue that the employees are motivated internally to a large

extent,byvocationalprideandanenjoyableworkclimate togetherwith theirco-workers.She

states; “if itwere only for the payroll, I don’t knowhowmany thatwould still be here”. By that

quoteshemeantthatthereismuchmorebesidesfinancialincentivestomotivatetheemployees,

forexampletheabilitytoaffectand influenceSSAB(ibid.).This issupportedbyHedlundetal.

(2016)whostatethatmotivationcomefrommanydifferentfactorsbesidesextrinsicmotivation,

suchasjobsatisfaction,safetycomplianceetc.

Thefocusgrouprespondentshavecontrarybeliefsregardingmotivationandtheyexperiencea

lackofexternalmotivationfromthemanagement.Oneinthefocusgroupsays;“itdoesn’thaveto

beabigorexpensivething,justsomethingthatshowsthatthemanagersandSSABappreciateus”.

Theirmotivationismostlyderivedinternallyandfromtheirco-workers,fromawilltodoagood

job anddelivering satisfying results (ibid.). They find it important to do a satisfying job since

theywantSSABtoappeargoodtowardsthecustomersandperformwellasacompany.

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6.2SAFETYGOALSGoalsettingisawaytomotivateemployeesinordertoreachapredefineddestination(Locke,

1968).Goalscanalsobedividedinaninternalandexternalaspect.Theinternalaspectrefersto

goals as an idea, a desired end. Externally they refer to the object or condition sought, for

exampleacertainperformancelevel(ibid.).ForSSAB,thesafetygoalsbuildontheendeavorof

minimizing all incidents and accidents, this includes amongst other things LTI (lost time

injuries)andsmallaccidentssuchasslips,etc. says theservicemanager.Theservicemanager

further states that one of the safety related goals is that all employees’ should feel good and

healthybefore,duringandafterwork.ThisisinlinewithFernández-Muñizetal.(2014)theory

about leadership tactics; the employee satisfaction can be improved by transmitting that the

management are truly concerned about the employees’ health and well-being. The

accomplishment of this goal is reflected by the focus group; meaning that they are mostly

satisfiedatwork.

The servicemanager speaks of a yearly followup of the goals and conducting dailymeetings

regarding proactive safety work in order to reach these goals, which is in accordance to

Svensson's (1997) argument that there shouldbe a connectionwith thedesiredoutcome, the

goal,theresourcesandproductiontoenablemeasuringtheeffectivenessofthecompany.

Thereisastrongrelationshipbetweentaskperformanceanddesiredbehaviorwhenthereisa

goal, the harder the goal is the better will the outcome be (Locke, 1968). Therefore it is

importantthatSSABhashighsafetystandardsandtheaimforzeroaccidents.Thegoalofzero

accidents is meaningful and will lead to essential results for the organization, these are two

importantaspectsofgoalsettingaccordingtoSvensson(1997).Theservicemanagerclaimsthat

the overall safety goals of SSAB are not impossible but rather realistic. According to Locke

(1968) the high safety objective should result in a high outcome, e.g. a low frequency of

accidents.However,thisisnotthecaseatSSAB.Thesuccessofreachingagoaldependsonthree

things; how difficult the goal is, how specific the goal is and by behavioral intentions (ibid.).

SinceSSAB’sgoalsarebothambitiousandclear,thefailureofreachingthegoalmightdependon

thebehavioramongtheemployeeswhenanalyzedbyLocke’s(1968)goalthesis.Thisrelatesto

Svensson’s (1997) thesis, arguing that the purpose with a goal is to give meaning to the

organizationanddirectboth theorganizationandtheemployees towardsachieving long-term

goals through the short-term goals. Svensson (1997) states that a good goal should be both

meaningfulanddescribeanessentialresult.ThesafetyrelatedgoalsatSSABfulfillbothofthese

criterionsandcanthereforebeconsideredasgood.

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Theservicemanagerisawareoftheconflictbetweensafetyandproductivitygoals.Theconflict

is nowadays not as strong as a couple of years ago, since SSAB has requirements from the

owners and the corporate group to only operate in a safemanner and doing safework tasks

(ibid.).A large reason for theenhancedemphasison safetygoals is due to a comparisonwith

other companies in the same business that present a better results regarding accidents.

Statistically SSAB are not in a good position (ibid.). All of the employees know that safety is

alwaysprioritizedbeforeproductivityand theproductionmustbestoppedbeforeanaccident

happen, says the focus group. Routines and clear directives are important steps when

prioritizing safety before production, because it facilitates for the assembly line workers to

knowwhentostoptheproduction(theproductionunitmanager).

There are goals that indirectly correlate to the safety work, it is the goal of making the

employeesfeelsecureandappreciated.Thisinvolvesprovidingtheworkerswithrehabilitation

helpifaninjuryhinderstheworkersfromconductingasafeworkatSSAB,theservicemanager

explains. This also implies that the employees can be relocated or given a new work task if

neededinsteadofSSABhiringemployeesexternally(ibid.).Bytryingtogivetheemployeesthe

feelingofbeingappreciativeof theirwork, the servicemanagermeans that in return thiswill

encourage them to follow the safety standards. This is due to the fact that if you feel

acknowledgedandappreciatedyou’relessinclinedoftryingtostandoutoractinawaythatcan

beunsafe(ibid.).Theargumentationofbeingmotivatedthroughrecognitionandappreciationis

inaccordancewithHedlundetal.(2016).

6.2.1PERCEPTIONOFGOALSETTINGThe employees from the focus group are aware of the goal of zero accidents but have less

knowledgeaboutothersafetyrelatedgoals.Theyallagreethatit isagoodgoal,“noothergoal

thanzeroaccidentswouldbeacceptable”andsincethepossibilityofanaccidentisalwaysthere,

highsafetystandardsareamust(ibid.).Thefocusgroupisalsoawareof thegoalofbeingthe

safest steel manufacturing company in the world. They know about the most important

organizationalsafetygoalsandcomplywiththeworkimplied.Thediscussionaboutsafetygoals

showedthattheemployeesfromthefocusgrouphaveaclearperceptionofsafetygoalsetting,

according toHedlund’s et al. (2010) theory.The employees’ knowledgeof the goals and their

perception of them as ambitious and relevant are important aspects for intrinsic safety

motivation(ibid.).

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6.3RISKMANAGEMENTSSABworksinmultiplewayswithriskmanagementinanattempttoeliminateordecreasethe

riskforaccidents.Forexamplebythe30-secrule(i.e.ifthereisaworktaskincludedwitharisk,

the employee should stop and think for 30 seconds before acting), the demand for correct

workinggearandthateveryoneatthecompanymusthaveadequateknowledge(theproduction

unit manager). The demand for correct working gear is because the workplace contains hot

liquid steel and other harmful objects. The production unitmanager states the importance of

using the correct gear but also that the assembly line workers are not always as good at

following the safety regulations asmuch as themanagement hopes for. She believes that the

reason is thatmany of theworkers have been at SSAB for a very long time,which has led to

ignorancetotherisks.Possiblybythethoughtof“ithasalwaysworkedwellbefore”(ibid.).These

argumentsarestrengthenedbythefocusgroupthatagreethattheyarenotalwayswearingthe

correctworkinggearbecauseitishardtolearnandremembernewregulationsanditisveryhot

intheproductionsite.TheservicemanagerisalsoawareofthisproblemandbelievesthatSSAB

fromthemanagementperspectiveistookind.Hefeelstheremightbeaneedforrepercussionsif

someone doesn’t wear correct working gear repeatedly. This is supported by Dipboye et al.,

(1994), which explain the use of punishment in order to encourage the right behavior.

Additionally, the servicemanager argument of repercussions to enhance safety is in linewith

Fernández-Muñiz et al. (2014) thesis; to encourage a committed leadership style and that the

management truly demonstrate that they are concerned of the employees’ health, which in

returncanincreasethesafetymotivation.

SSABputalotofemphasisonhandlingrisks.Theproductionmanagers,thetechniciansandthe

supervisorsholdameetingeverymorningwheretheydiscusscurrentsafetyrelatedissuessuch

as previous accidents andmishaps, the need for action plans, etc. (the servicemanager). The

allocationofhumanand financial resources issupported inorder toreflect themanagement's

commitment to workplace safety and the implementation of a proactive risk management

(Fernández-Muñiz et al., 2014). A proactive riskmanagement canmotivate the employees to

participate and complywith the safety rulesby lowering the accident rate.This can in return

become a source ofmotivation for theworkers to complywith the safety standards and thus

increasingthesafetymotivation(ibid).

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A large part of the riskmanagement at SSAB is tomap out the frequency and location of the

mishapsandaccidents inorderprevent them forhappening (theservicemanager).There isa

requirement to report every single accident and mishap in the MIA (the production unit

manager;theservicemanager).Everyemployeemustknowaboutthisandknowhowtoreport

inMIA.

Thelatestyeartherehasbeenanincreaseinthenumberofreportedmishapandaccidents,the

servicemanager argues that it does not necessarilymean that there has been an upswing of

accidents andmishapsbut rather that the employees are gettingbetter at reporting them.He

meansthatthisisaresultofthesafetyworkthathasbeenemphasizedwithinSSABinthelatest

years. Involving the assembly line workers in the safety work goes well with the theory by

Hedlund et al. (2010) and Andriessen (1978) that state that employee involvement are an

important step when creating safety motivation. It can be seen as a leadership tactic to

encourage the individual's safety compliance and participation, and thus increase safety

motivation.

6.4LEADERSHIPSafetymotivationbeginswithagoodleadershipanddistinctsafetygoals(Hedlundetal.,2010),

the importanceof leadershipwithinanorganization isadditionallyemphasizedbyAndriessen

(1978).Bothoftheseauthorsstressthatleadershipisanimportantcornerstonewhencreating

safetymotivation.Theservicemanagerandtheproductionunitmanagerviewofwhatcreates

safety motivation, with the largest emphasis on internal motivation and peer pressure, is

contrarytoAndriessen’s(1978),Clarke’s(2006)andHedlund’setal.(2010;2016)theoriesthat

safetymotivation startswith good leadership. According toHedlund et al., (2010) andClarke

(2006)leadershipplaysacrucialrolewhenpromotingsafety,thisislargelyduetotheincrease

and encouragement of safety participation that good leadership can raise, which in return

enhances safety motivation. A supportive and influential leadership style can affect the

employees’ attitudes and behavior, for example to gain support for safety policies and to

motivatetheemployeestofollowthem(Clark&Ward,2006).Astheservicemanagerexplains,

themanagement philosophy of SSABOne implies a supportive and coaching leadership style,

which is in linewithClark&Ward’s (2006) theory of leadership tactics. Amanagement style

that is influential and supportive is strongly related to the employees’ ability of taking safety

initiatives (Clark & Ward, 2006). The link of safety participation and safety motivation is

connected because safety participation enhances safety compliance that further affects safety

motivation(Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).

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A current topic within SSAB is genus and gender issues, all managers attend in courses to

enlightenthattheremightexistprejudiceandbiastowardsacertaingender,race,background

etc.Thelecturesandcoursesaremeanttofurtherdevelopanopenandfriendlyclimatewithin

the organization as awhole (the servicemanager). As the servicemanager stated earlier; an

employee that is happy, feel good and is satisfiedwith thework environmentwill perform a

betterjobandremainintheorganization.

The production unit manager stresses the importance of leadership when it comes to safety

motivation since it is themanagers’ responsibility to encourage safe behavior and to remind

otherswhensafetyregulationsarenot followed.An issue thatmightarise isa larger focuson

chasing after theproblems insteadof actually acknowledging andencouraging the things that

aregood.

Everyoneinthefocusgroupexperiencealargeremphasisonsafetyfromthemanagementinthe

later years. This is shownby a less focus on productivity and that safety is always of highest

priority.Ifthemanagersaregoingtobeabletoworkwithsafetyprecautions,itisimportantthat

he or she is aware of all the safety regulations andwhy they exist in order tomediate safety

regulationsinatrustworthyway(theproductionunitmanager).Theimportanceofpromoting

safetythroughleadershipandalsoincreasethesafetycomplianceandsafetyparticipationatan

individuallevelisstressedbyHedlundetal.(2010)andismuchinlinewiththeproductionunit

managerdiscussion.Further,themanagers’roleincommunicatingsafebehaviorstronglyaffects

the employees’ perception of safety behavior, which is important for safety motivation, by

providingknowledgeandempoweringattitudes(Hedlundetal.,2016).Thelatterisalsomuchin

accordancewiththeproductionunitmanager’sviewofhowleadershipaffectssafetymotivation.

6.4.1COMMUNICATIONWhen discussing the role of leadership, both the production unit manager and the service

managerstressedtheimportanceofawell-functioningtwo-waycommunication.Itisimportant

to have an open and transparent climate so the employees feel that they can talk to the

managers and being able to question and criticize (the service manager). This discussion is

additionallybroughtupbyHedlundetal., (2010)whoemphasize the importanceofmanagers

providing a clear standpoint and an open communication when influencing the employees

towardsimprovingtheworkclimate.Theservicemanagerfurtherstressesthatthereshouldbe

no accusing or imposing of guilt upon the employeewho bring up issues, since it is a sign of

engagement and involvement. The focus group was however not satisfied with the

communication.

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They felt that besides their supervisor, the management is invisible, hard to reach and they

perceive a lack of (positive) feedback from them. According to a study made by Andriessen

(1978), accidents occur more often when the communication between the manager and the

employeeispoor.

Theservicemanagerstressestheimportanceofthemanagersbeingresponsiveandsensitiveto

the employee and their opinions. This line of arguments relates toAndriessen's (1978) study

about leadershipandsafety; accidentsoccur lessoftenwhen the leader is capable, gives clear

directions,isnotbehavingautocraticallyandprovidesagoodlineofcommunicationwithhisor

heremployees.Thefocusgroupmeantthatthereisalargefocusonthecommunicationbutthey

perceiveitasmalfunctioning.Thismighthaveanegativeimpactontheirsafetymotivationsince

crucial factors for creating safety motivation are leadership tactics, communication and the

perceptionofsafetybehavior,whichisstronglyaffectedbytheleadership(Hedlundetal.,2016).

Clarke (2006)argues thatonekeyelement foragoodsafetyclimatewithinanorganization is

the leadership style. The leadership style and the leadership tacticswill affect both the safety

participationandthesafetycomplianceamongtheemployeesandfurtherthesafetymotivation

(ibid.).Afavorableleadershiptacticistobesupportive,influentialandcoaching(ibid.).Thisisin

line with the intended management style implemented in SSAB One (the service manager),

howeverthefocusgroup(2016)doesnotperceiveitassuch.

6.4.2PERCEPTIONOFSAFETYBEHAVIORThe perception of the managers’ safety behavior strongly affects the employees’ safety

motivation (Hedlundet al., 2010;Clarke,2006).Theproductionunitmanagerand the service

manager state that the managers are communicating safety concerns to the employees and

providingthemwithsafetyknowledge,whichisinlinewithHedlund’setal.(2010)theory.The

focusgroupperceptionsof themanagers’ safetybehavior is that theyalwaysbehavecorrectly

andthattheycommunicatesafetyconcerns,thisissomethingthathasbeenimprovedduringthe

later years. A good perception of the managers’ safety behavior might affect the employees’

safetyparticipationandsafetycompliance,andhencethesafetymotivation.

Clarke(2006)furtherstressesthattheemployees’perceptionofthemanagers’safetybehavior

will affect the organization's safety climate. According to the empirical findings, the

organizational safety climate is overall goodandSSABhas succeeded in implementinga large

safetyfocusonalllevelswithintheorganization(thefocusgroup;theproductionunitmanager;

the service manager). This can further affect the employees’ safety participation and safety

complianceinapositiveway.

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6.5SAFETYCLIMATE“Thesafetycomesfirst”principleisanaspectthatSSABtriestopermeatethroughoutthewhole

company, especially in theproductionareawhereall the safety concernsoriginates from (the

service manager). According to Hedlund et al. (2016) promoting a strong safety climate lies

foremost in the leadership by forming safety procedures, practices and policies in the

organization. For SSAB thismeans that theworkers should never hesitate to stop production

when safety is at stake or be accounted in a negativeway for stopping production for safety

reasons(theservicemanager).Thesafetyclimateisheavilyaffectedbyleadershiptactics,which

puts a large emphasis on how the managers act (Clarke, 2006). This is something SSAB has

improvedduring the lateryears; themanagersarenowadaysalwaysprioritizingsafetybefore

anythingelse(theservicemanager).

Moreover, since SSAB operate in a male-dominated business there are influences of macho-

culture,whichdirectlycanhaveimplicationsonsafety.Macho-cultureimplicationsonsafetyare

often demonstrated by the idea of taking safetymeasures on an individual level as an act of

weakness(theservicemanager;theproductionunitmanager).Mencanforexamplechoosenot

totaketheirsafetygogglesonandsoforth.

Problems of attitudes such as sexism, racism, equality and other related issues that can exist

amongst theworkforcearerecognizedandactivelymanagedbySSAB.This isdonebyholding

meetings,lecturesandothergatheringsinpurposeofenlighteningtheseproblems(theservice

manager; theproductionunitmanager).Addressinggenderrelatedissues isrelativelynewfor

SSAB,but isnowconsidered tobevery important.There is forexampleanongoingcampaign

thatseekstobringmorewomenintotheorganization,withthepurposeofbothlevelingoutthe

male-dominatedworkforcebutalsotopreventandeliminatethemacho-culture(theproduction

unitmanager).Thefocusgroupappreciatestheemploymentofwomenasitbringsnew,funand

gooddynamicsinthedifferentshiftteams.Inregardstotheoverallattitudesoftheworkers,the

productionunitmanagerthinksthatitislargelyaffectedbythepeerpressurethathumanstend

tofallfor,“youwanttofitin,nomatterifit’sagoodorbadbehavior”.

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6.6SAFETYPARTICIPATION&SAFETYCOMPLIANCEAsoneoftherespondentsinthefocusgroupsaid;“youwanttotakepartintheworkwithsafety

improvementsinordertocreateasaferworkplace”.Thisdemonstratessafetyparticipationatan

individual levelandacompliancewith thesafetyconcerns.According toHedlundetal. (2010;

2016) these are two important aspectswhen creating safetymotivation.Regarding the safety

goals, all of the respondents from the focus group understood the safety goals and perceived

them as important and adequate, which implies safety compliance. The individual safety

participation and safety compliance is further shown in the increasing number of reported

accidentsandincidentsintheMIA.

Oneaspect showing lowsafetycompliance is the fact the focusgroupstated that theyarenot

always following the safety regulations. They said that they only follow the regulations they

perceiveasmostimportantandwhendoingmoredangerousjobs.Thereasonfornotfollowing

the regulations is because they sometimes perceive them as not important, or that it is

uncomfortabletousecorrectworkinggearetc.Thisimpliesadeficientsafetycompliance,which

resultsinbreachesinthesafetyparticipation,andconsequentlysafetymotivation.

Fernández-Muñizetal.(2014)arguethatsafetyparticipationhasadirectpositiveeffectonthe

employees’jobsatisfaction.Thefocusgroupstatesthattheyareinvolvedintheproactivesafety

work,i.e.safetyparticipation,andthattheyaresatisfiedwiththeirworkenvironmenttoalarge

extent. This argumentation corresponds verywellwith Fernández-Muñiz et al. (2014) theory

aboutthedirectrelationshipbetweensafetyparticipationandemployeesatisfaction.

Regardingthesafetycompliance,Clarke(2006)statesthatthesafetyclimatehasanimportant

rolewheninfluencingtheadherenceandthedevotiontoproceduresbutthesafetyclimatehas

anevenlargerrolewheninfluencingtheemployeecommitmentandinvolvementinsafetywork.

Thisisinagreementwiththeempiricalfindings;bothofthemanagers(theservicemanager;the

productionunitmanager)arguethattheorganizationalsafetyclimateisstrongandthatsafetyis

always priority number one, which is in consent with the focus group’s perceptions of the

emphasis the management place on safety. This strong safety climate has resulted in safety

participationamongtheemployees;theyareinvolvedintheprecautionssafetywork.However,

the safety compliance is not always as good as the safety participation. The focus group

respondents admit of not always following the safety regulations, which both the production

unitmanagerandtheservicemanagerareawareof.

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6.7ANALYSISOFTHESAFETYMOTIVATIONSYSTEMSSABtries to incorporate theirsafetygoals in theorganizationthroughdifferentmethods.For

example,bystatingclearandreasonablegoals,usingariskmanagementsystemsuchastheMIA,

usingleadershiptocommunicatethesafetygoalstoallemployeesandstressthatsafetymustbe

prioritizedatall times.The focusgroupstate that theyareawareof thegeneralsafetygoalof

zeroaccidentsbutadmittohavelessknowledgeabouttheremainingsafetygoals.Theyperceive

thesafetygoalsettingasadequate.Thefocusgrouparguesthatthesafetyfocusandsafetygoals

havebeenimprovedduringthelateryearsandthatsafetyisalwaysofhighestpriority.Thisis

reflectedbyalowdegreeofgoalconflictsbetweensafetyandproductivity;theemployeesknow

toalwaysprioritizesafetyfirst.PuttingthisinrelationtoHedlundetal.(2010)thefocusgroup’s

perceptionofthegoalsettingcanbeconsideredasgood.

ThesafetyclimateatSSABisprofoundandestablishedthroughoutthewholeorganization.The

safety climate affects theworkers considerably and has a direct impact on the overall safety

motivation,duetothesignalsitsendstotheemployees;thatsafetyishighlyprioritizedandthe

organizationcareoftheemployee’swell-being(Clarke,2006).

At an individual level the safety motivation is not always sufficient due to the lack of safety

complianceandsafetyparticipation.Thefocusgrouprespondentsadmitthattheydonotalways

followallofthesafetyregulationsbutstillperceivetheirsafetybehaviorofbeingsatisfying.The

focusgroup speaksof a tendencyofmakingan individual evaluationof the importanceof the

safetyregulationsandwhen theyshouldbe followed.Thereasonsareof the inconvenience to

usecorrectworkinggear, timeconsumingproceduresandthe thoughtof “nothingwillhappen

because this has always worked out well before”. When applying Hedlund’s et al. (2016) and

Clarke’s(2006)definitionstotheseargumentsitimpliesalowdegreeofsafetyparticipationdue

tolowsafetycomplianceandlowintrinsicsafetymotivation.Thisimpairsthesafetymotivation,

sincethereisadirectrelationshipbetweensafetyparticipationandsafetycompliancethatleads

tosafetymotivation(Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).Thiswillfurtherimplicatethesafetywork

andtheestablishmentofagoodsafetyclimate.

Afurtherdiscussioncanbeheldregardingthereasonsforwhysafetyregulationsaresometimes

ignored.Everyonefromtheempiricalstudiesadmittedthatthereexistsamacho-culturetosome

extent, even though it has declined over time. The macho-culture promotes a hard work

environment, which generates a work ethic that allows an acceptance for ignoring safety

regulationsandunsafebehavior.SSABhasmadeanattempt todecrease themacho-cultureby

hiringmorewomentocreateamixintheworkforcebutalsobyacknowledgingtheproblemby

providinggendercoursesandlecturingfortheemployees.

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Safetymotivation is affectedby the safety climate that lies at anorganizational levelmeaning

thattheworkSSABisdoingcanbeaneffectivewaytoenhancesafetymotivation.

Therearegeneralmisunderstandingsanddifferentperceptionsofvariousaspectsbetweenthe

managementandtheassemblylineworkers.Forexample,thecommunicationthatintheeyesof

themanagement iswelldevelopedand functioning is inclearcontrast to the focusgroup that

perceives the communication as being very poor. The same goes with the degree of macho-

cultureintheorganizationwherethemanagersperceiveitasextensiveandthefocusgroupas

hardlyexisting.Havingwidespreadmisunderstandingscanimplicateandevenimpairthesafety

motivation work. It is important to have a congruent perception of the problems within the

companytofacilitatetheworkofsolvingthem.Thiscanandoftenwillaffectsafetycompliance

andsafetyparticipationof theemployees,becauseaworker that isnot inagreementwith the

managementregardingaproblemwillmostlikelynottakethenecessaryactionstosolveit.

The servicemanager and the production unitmanager state that safetymotivation primarily

derives internally fromtheemployee'sownwill tohavea safeworkenvironment forhisown

sakeandfortheco-workers.ThisiscontrarytoHedlund’setal.(2010;2016)andAndriessen’s

(1978) theories that safety motivation begins with a good leadership. The two researchers

clearly argue that leadership is one of the most important factors when promoting safety

motivation. In order to make the employee comply with safety goals and standards, the

employeemustbeawareoftherisk,understandthesignificanceoftheriskandthemeaningof

thegoalandstandard.Tomaketheemployeeawareoftheseaspectsthemanagementmustbe

able to provide sufficient knowledge and communicate correct information to build

trustworthiness.Thisfurtherenhancesbothsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance,whichin

returnincreasesafetymotivation.

The management and the managers play a large role when promoting safety among the

assembly line workers. The focus group explains that if the managers don’t follow safety

regulations it would undermine the importance and trustworthiness of safety regulations.

Additionally, it lies within the manager's role to communicate safety goals, standards and

procedures and being able to communicate them in a credible way for the employees to

understandandcomplywiththem.Theproblemofperceivingthatsafetymotivationisprimarily

created internally and not by the leadership, together with the problem of a dissatisfying

communication,furtherimplicatesthesafetymotivationwork.

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Therearenofinancial incentives fortheassembly lineworkers,neither forproductionnorfor

the proactive safety work. The service manager states that financial incentives for safety

motivation can be counterproductive due to a decrease in reported accidents and incidents,

whichtherebyimpairtheproactivesafetywork.

ThisargumentiscontradictorytoBakeretal.(2007)arguingthatincentiveforsafetyisjustas

important as incentive for productivity. However, the focus group agrees with the service

manager; they do not feel a need for external incentives for safety, which shows upon an

intrinsicsafetymotivation.

Thefocusgroupspokeof the importanceofprovidingexternal incentives inordertomotivate

theemployeestoparticipatetoalargerextentintheworkforimprovements.Thisargumentis

strengthenedbyBakeretal.(2007)whoarguethatincentivesforsafetyarejustasimportantas

incentives for productivity. If the management would provide external incentives for safety

improvementsthesafetyparticipationcanincrease.Ifthemanagersenhancethecommunication

aswell, the trust for themanagementwouldalso increase.Thiswouldresult inan increase in

safety compliance. Safety participationwill in return increase safety compliance and thus the

safetymotivationwillbestronger(Clarke,2006;Fernández-Muñizetal.,2014).However,arisk

withsafetyincentivesisthatitencouragesshort-termactionsthatcanbeharmfulforthelong-

terminterestofthecompany(Anthonyetal.,2014).Thisthesissupportstheservicemanager’s

argumentofwhyfinancialincentivesarenotimplementedinthesafetymotivationsystem.

As previously stated, there is a lack of safety participation and safety compliance among the

employees. The reasons for this can be explained by a dysfunctional communication due to a

leadership that doesn’t acknowledge the communicationproblem.Communicational problems

withinacompanycanleadtomisunderstandingsandmisconceptionsregardingrisksandsafety

regulations.Hence,safetyparticipationandsafetycompliancecanbeimpairedduetotheharm

thelackofcommunicationhasontheleadership’strustworthiness(Clarke,2006;Hedlundetal.,

2010). Thus, both safety participation and safety compliance are strongly affected by the

leadership. According to thesafetymotivationsystem,a lackof these twoaspectswillhavea

negativeeffectonsafetymotivation.

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7CONCLUSIONSThe chapter consists of a conclusion with a revised safety motivation system followed by our

recommendationsonhowthecasecompanycanimprovethesafetymotivationfortheiremployees.

Lastlywepresentapropositionforfurtherresearchregardingsafetymotivation.

7.1CONCLUSIONThesafetymotivationsystemismeantto increasethesafetymotivationamongtheemployees

withthepurposeofimprovingthesafetyperformance.Inaccordancetothetheoreticalstarting

point and the safety motivation system, all of the individual and organizational factors will

eventuallyaffecttheaspectsofsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance.Ifoneorbothofthese

aspectsare low, thesafetymotivationwillbepoor.Safetyparticipationcan tosomeextentbe

controlledby rules and regulationbutnever safety compliance;whichwas shownatour case

company.

However,wefoundthattwofactorsareoflargersignificancethantheothersandthereforewe

have developed a remake of the safety motivation system in order to provide a deeper

explanation of how safety motivation is created. These two factors are safety climate and

leadership due to the great influence theyhave on safety participation among the employees.

Safetyparticipation iscrucialwhenenhancingsafetycompliance.Thesetwoaspectscombined

creates a synergyeffect that increase safetymotivation.The synergyeffect is generatedwhen

safety participation enhance safety compliance which in return further increases safety

participation. The safetymotivation system relies heavily on the factors of safety climate and

leadershipsincetheyarefundamentalwhencreatingsafetymotivation.

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Figure8.Accordingtothesafetymotivationsystem,safetymotivationreliesheavilyonthefactorsofsafetyclimateandleadership.Thesetwofactorssignificantlyaffecttheindividualsafetyparticipationand

subsequentlytheindividualsafetycompliance.Asynergeticeffectiscreatedwhensafetyparticipationandsafetycomplianceenhanceseachotherandthussafetymotivationincreases.(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016)

To clarify, individual safety participation and safety compliance is largely created from an

organizational level through the factorsof safetyclimateand leadership.Hence, safetyclimate

and leadership are fundamental factors of the safetymotivation system and therefore has to

functioncorrectlytoenhancesafetymotivation.

Insufficient safety compliance among the assembly lineworkers can be traced back to a low

degreeofsafetyparticipationintheproactivesafetywork.Theleadershipandthesafetyclimate

within the organization also directly affect the safety compliance. However, no matter how

ambitious and extensive the safetywork is, if the employeesdonot complywith it the safety

motivationdecreases.Thisisclearlyshowninourempiricalfindings;thesafetyclimateatSSAB

is profound and established throughout the whole organization, yet the employees do not

comply and participate with all the safety regulations, procedures and standards that comes

withahighlydevelopedsafetyclimate.Hence,afirmcanprovidealargefocusonsafetybutstill

showbadresultsastheemployees’safetymotivationreliesuponsafetyparticipationandsafety

compliance.Ifthesearelacking,theeffortthatthecompanyandthemanagersputintothesafety

workbecomesinefficient.

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Sincethesafetycomplianceisharderforthemanagerstoaffect,itismoreeffectivetotargetthe

safety participation in order to increase the safety motivation among the employees. If the

managersareabletoincreasethesafetyparticipationbyanincentive,thesafetycompliancewill

also increase.Thiswill additionally increase thesafetyparticipation ina synergeticeffect that

leadstoanoverallincreaseinthesafetymotivation.

7.2RECOMMENDATIONSAclearleadershipthatfunctionasarolemodelandprovidetrustworthysafetyregulationsand

standards can enhance safety compliance. The safety goals must be well motivated and

communicatedclearlytotheemployeesandalloftheemployeesmustunderstandthemeaning

andthesignificanceofthesafetygoalandtheunderlyingrisk.Thisimpliestheneedforawell-

functioning and open two-way communication within the organization. Additionally, safety

participationstronglyaffectssafetycompliance.Iftheemployeeparticipatesinthesafetywork,

thesafetycompliancewill inreturnbeaffected inapositivewaythat furtherwill increasethe

safetymotivation.

Therefore,ourrecommendationforSSABistoenhancethecommunicationbetweenmanagers

and employees. There is a need for a well-functioning two-way communication where the

employees feel that that they have the ability to talk to all of the managers, not only their

supervisor,andthatthemanagerslistentothem.Wefurtherrecommendexternalmotivationto

increase the employees’ participation in work improvements including the proactive safety

work. This recommendation is due to the employees’ low safety compliance, which can be

improvedbyincreasingsafetyparticipation.Theexternalmotivationdoesnotnecessarilyhave

to be in the form of financial incentives but rather through encouragement, appraisal and

acknowledgement.

Encouragement and positive feedback could provide enough incentives for the employees to

participate in theproactive safetywork and thus the safety participationwouldbe increased.

This will lead to an increase in safety compliance, which further strengthen the safety

motivation. According to our empirical findings, SSAB puts a large focus on safety and has

developed a strong safety climate. SSAB’s weakness lies within the leadership and the

communication, which can be improved in order to increase the safety participation and the

safetycomplianceamongtheemployees.Thesetwoaspectsarecrucialforsafetymotivationas

theemployeesarethelastbarrieragainsttheriskforaccidentsandthuscriticalwhencreatinga

safeworkenvironment.

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7.3PROPOSITIONFORFURTHERRESEARCHDuetothesignificanceofsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance,furtherresearchinhowto

enhancetheseaspectswouldbeinterestingandusefulformostfirmsinhazardousbusinesses.

Safety participation and safety compliance are two key factors for safetymotivation and thus

necessary. The problem with these aspects is that they lies at an individual level and can

thereforebehardforthemanagerstoinfluence.Researchinhowtoinfluencetheseaspectsina

positivewaywouldbeanimportantstepwhenconductingfurtherresearchonsafetymotivation

andsafetymotivationsystems.

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ORALREFERENCESThefocusgroup(2016).Sixemployeesfromcontinuouscasting,SSABLuleå.Participatedina

focusgroupsessionconducted;2016-04-06

Theproductionunitmanager,continuouscasting,SSABLuleå(2016).Jakobsson,Lotta.

Interviewconducted;2016-04-06

Theservicemanager,SSABLuleå(2016).Sundbom,Peder(2016).Interviewconducted;2016-

04-06

FIGURESFigure1.(Page8).Thedispositionofthismasterthesisisasshownabove.

Figure2.(Page14).Depictstheprocessofourresearch.Startingoutwithbuildingthe

theoreticalframeofreferenceswithsupportfromdocumentsfromthecasecompanyand

alteringbetweenthesetwotoensurearelevanttheoreticalreferenceframe.Thereafter

collectingempiricaldatafromthecasecompanyandsimultaneouslyworkingonthereference

frametoensureacorrectdirectionofthisstudy.

Figure3.(Page23).Schemedepictinghowtheanalysisforthisstudywillbeconducted.

Figure4.(Page30).Depictsthesafetymotivationsystem.Safetymotivationstartsontwolevels;

individualandorganizational.Thesetwolevelsconsistofthreefactorseachthataffectsafety

motivation.Safetymotivationisadditionallystronglyaffectedbytheindividual'ssafety

complianceandsafetyparticipation.(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016).

Figure5.(Page40).Apathdiagramdepictingthefactorsthatcreatessafetymotivation.

Thereafterleadingtoasafeworkplacethroughsafetyparticipationandsafetycompliance.

(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016).

Figure6.(Page41).IllustrateswhereSSABproductionsitesarelocatedaswellassales

coverage,theproductionsitesinSwedenareinBorlänge,OxelösundandLuleå.

Figure7.(Page43).Illustratingthesteelproductionlinefromironoretosteel.

Figure8.(Page78).Thesafetymotivationsystembeginswiththefactorsofsafetyclimateand

leadership.Thesetwofactorssignificantlyaffecttheindividualsafetyparticipationand

subsequentlytheindividualsafetycompliance.Asynergyeffectiscreatedwhensafety

participationandsafetycomplianceenhanceseachotherandthussafetymotivationincreases.

(Andersson&Paqarizi,2016)

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APPENDIX1Appendix1consistsoftheinterviewguidesthatwereusedwhenconductingtheinterviews.The

interviewguidesweresimilarforallrespondents,butslightlyalteredtofittherespondentswork

assignments.TheinterviewguideswerefirstwritteninSwedish,astheinterviewswasheldin

Swedish,andthereaftertranslatedintoEnglishtofitintothisstudy.

INTERVIEWGUIDE1Respondent:PederSundbom,servicemanager,SSABLuleå

Introduction

1. DescribeyourmainworktaskatSSABa. Onwhatdoyouputmostofyourworktimeat?

2. ForhowlonghaveyoubeenemployedatSSAB?a. Atyourcurrentposition?

Motivation

3. Howdoyoumotivateyourassemblylineworkers?a. Whatdoyoumotivatetowards?

4. Howareyou,fromthemanagementperspectivemotivatingtheemployeestowardssafety?a. Aretherecleardirectives,restrictions,etc.?

Goals

5. WhatarethesafetyrelatedgoalswithinSSAB?6. Doyouconsiderthesegoalstobeambitiousandofhighstandardoreasytoreach?7. Howisthegoalscommunicatedtotheemployeesintheassemblyline?8. Howdoyoudotoengagetheemployeesinthesafetydirectives?9. Howareyouprovidingfeedbackandhowdoyoufollowupthesegoals?

Riskmanagement

10. Wherearethelargest,mosthazardousrisksfortheemployees?11. Whatisyourstandpointregardingsafety?

a. Useofworkinggear,followingrestrictionsetc.

Leadership

12. Whatisofhighestpriority?Safety,productivity,quality…?a. Balancebetweenthesetwogoals?b. Arethesegoalsconflicting?

Safetyculture

13. Howarethemanagersandsupervisorsattitudesaboutsafetyaffectingtheemployees?14. Doyouconsidertheemployeestoworkinasafeway?

a. Groupvs.individually?b. Whydoesthesafetymotivationdifferbetweenpeople?

15. Istheresomethingyouwouldliketoaddthatwehaven’tcovered?

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INTERVIEWGUIDE2Respondent:LottaJakobsson,productionmanager,continuouscasting,SSABLuleå

Introduction

1. DescribeyourmainworktaskatSSABa. Onwhatdoyouputmostofyourworktimeat?

2. ForhowlonghaveyoubeenemployedatSSAB?a. Atyourcurrentposition?

Motivation

3. Howdoyoumotivateyourassemblylineworkers?a. Whatdoyoumotivatetowards?

4. Howareyou,fromthemanagementperspectivemotivatingtheemployeestowardssafety?a. Aretherecleardirectives,restrictions,etc.?

Goals

5. WhatarethesafetyrelatedgoalswithinSSAB?6. Doyouconsiderthesegoalstobeambitiousandofhighstandardoreasytoreach?7. Howisthegoalscommunicatedtotheemployeesintheassemblyline?8. Howdoyoudotoengagetheemployeesinthesafetydirectives?9. Howareyouprovidingfeedbackandhowdoyoufollowupthesegoals?

Riskmanagement

10. Wherearethelargest,mosthazardousrisksfortheemployees?11. Whatisyourstandpointregardingsafety?

a. Useofworkinggear,followingrestrictionsetc.

Leadership

12. Whatisofhighestpriority?Safety,productivity,quality…?a. Balancebetweenthesetwogoals?b. Arethesegoalsconflicting?

Safetyculture

13. Howarethemanagersandsupervisorsattitudesaboutsafetyaffectingtheemployees?14. Doyouconsidertheemployeestoworkinasafeway?

a. Groupvs.individually?b. Whydoesthesafetymotivationdifferbetweenpeople?

15. Istheresomethingyouwouldliketoaddthatwehaven’tcovered?

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INTERVIEWGUIDE3Respondents:Employeesfromthecontinuouscasting,SSABLuleå

Introduction

1. ForhowlonghaveyoubeenemployedatSSAB?a. Atyourcurrentposition?

Motivation

2. Howdofeelyouaremotivatedatwork?a. Whatdoyoufeelyouaremotivatedtowards?

3. Howdofeelyouaremotivatedtowardssafety?a. Aretherecleardirectives,restrictions,etc.?

Goals

4. DoyouknowaboutthesafetyrelatedgoalswithinSSAB?5. Doyouconsiderthesegoalstobeambitiousandofhighstandardoreasytoreach?6. Howisthegoalscommunicatedtotheemployeesintheassemblyline?7. Doyoufeelengagedinthesafetydirectives?8. Howarefeedbackprovidedandarethegoalsfollowedup?

Riskmanagement

9. Wherearethelargest/mosthazardousrisksforyou?10. Whatisyourstandpointregardingsafety?

a. Useofworkinggear,followingrestrictionsetc.

Leadership

11. Whatisofhighestpriority?Safety,productivity,quality…?a. Clearstandpointsfromthemanagement?b. Balancebetweenthesetwogoals?c. Arethesegoalsconflicting?

Safetyculture

12. Howarethemanagersandsupervisorsattitudesaboutsafetyaffectingyou?13. Doyouconsiderthatyouareworkinginasafeway?

a. Groupvs.individually?b. Whydoesthesafetymotivationdifferbetweenpeople?

14. Istheresomethingyouwouldliketoaddthatwehaven’tcovered?