Just like individuals, organizations learn from their mistakes. However, once a crisis has passed and the dust has settled, attention naturally shifts—at the risk of forgetting what happened and repeating the same errors. In an article published in the Academy of Management Journal, Madsen and Desai examine the conditions that do—or don’t—support organizational learning after an incident, in the context of workplace health and safety. While their study focuses on this domain, their conclusions can be applied to other types of organizational challenges.
The researchers analyzed data on major accidents in U.S. coal mines between 1983 and 2021 that resulted in permanent disabilities or fatalities. To measure the degree of organizational learning following an incident, they looked at the number of workdays lost due to injuries over the next five years.
Their results show that companies maintain stronger health and safety performance when:
-
the initial incident was thoroughly investigated, uncovering multiple causes;
-
the organization was found to be partially or fully responsible for the incident;
-
the incident occurred in a context representative of the company’s core activities.
In conclusion, the authors offer recommendations that will likely resonate with OHS professionals: conducting thorough investigations, taking responsibility for incidents, and sharing lessons across similar contexts are key practices for maximizing the retention of learnings from a tragic event.