Learning in the gray zone: Harmful organizational learning from safety deviations in nuclear power plants

Abstract

Organizations often encounter safety deviations, events that diverge from established safety standards without causing substantial harm. Despite their critical role in preventing severe safety incidents, organizational learning from safety deviations has been understudied. We propose that safety deviations lead to harmful learning due to decision-makers’ self-enhancement tendencies and normalization of these deviations, which facilitates future safety incidents. Our analysis of global nuclear power plants from 1990 to 2017, representing high-reliability organizations, supports this argument. Additionally, we demonstrate that institutional factors significantly mitigate the harmful effects of learning from safety deviations. This study advances the organizational learning literature by distinguishing learning from safety deviations from that derived from safety failures. Finally, we discuss practical implications for fostering safer organizations and societies.