You can have your cake and eat it too: Embracing paradox of safety as source of progress in safety science

Creating a safe haven during the crisis: How organizations can achieve deep compliance with COVID-19 safety measures in the hospitality industry

“…Building on these existing studies, Hu et al (2020) reconceptualized safety compliance by forwarding the concepts of deep compliance and surface compliance to contrast different ways workers can comply with safety rules and procedures. Employees engage in deep compliance with the intention to maintain workplace safety, and invest the effort required for enacting risk management strategies expected to accomplish organizationally-desired safety outcomes.…”

“…In contrast, employees engage in surface compliance with the intention to minimally meet organizational requirements and therefore direct their effort and attention towards demonstrating basic compliance. The differentiation between deep and surface compliance provides a new avenue for safety compliance research, particularly given the preliminary evidence, which indicates that whereas deep compliance can reduce accidents and injuries, surface compliance contributes to increased occurrence of adverse safety events ( Hu et al, 2020 ).…”

“…In terms of situational factors contributing to safety compliance, previous safety reseach has provided preliminary eviduence that management commitment to safety can promote deep compliance ( Hu et al, 2020 ). It suggests that when employees perceive that management are genuinely concerned about safety, they are more motivated to behave safely ( Christian et al, 2009 ).…”

“…A pressing question is how organizations could facilitate deep compliance with COVID-19 safety rules and procedures to protect workers from being infected and stop possible transmission during service encounters. Although management commitment to safety has been identified as an organizational factor that can drive deep compliance (e.g., Hu et al, 2020 ), little is known about the underlying psychological process, and how management can create perceptions of commitment to safety among employees. Also, the mechanism that catalyzes and activates deep compliance in the context of a global health crisis needs to be addressed further.…”

“…Therefore, we draw on broader organizational safety research to guide our research inquiry. Particularly, we follow the theoretical framework put forth by Hu and colleagues ( Hu et al, 2020 ), which differentiates between ‘deep’ (mindful awareness and careful application of safety procedures) and ‘surface’ compliance (demonstrating compliance with minimal effort). Building on this work, we seek to explore the unique psychological mechanisms that lead to a deep approach to compliance, which we found evolved over the course of the pandemic in the studied restaurants.…”