Improving the Quality and Speed of Communicating Critical Technical and Production Risks Across the Management Vertical of Large Critical Infrastructure Companies to Prevent Emergencies Before They Occur

Why Risk Information is Hidden: A Global Study

Hiding information about critical risks is a systemic problem typical of large companies worldwide. In this webinar, the speaker analyzes the results of a large-scale study that covered hundreds of emergencies and included interviews with executives from different countries. The presentation reveals the underlying reasons why distorted, "reassuring" data is often passed up the management vertical, and why the scale of problems is downplayed.

The Role of Owners and Top Management

According to the study, the responsibility for hiding information lies not with line personnel, but with the corporate system as a whole. The speaker uses an example to show how aggressive financial and production plans handed down by owners put top management in a tight spot.

• Fear of losing one's job: For top managers, dismissal often means the inability to return to a similar level in their career. Therefore, they tend to comply with the owners' demands, even if it goes against the real needs of production.
• Reluctance to admit mistakes: Information about risks is often perceived as a signal of previous incorrect management decisions.
• Lack of resources: Executives do not want to hear about problems if they do not have the budget to solve them. Admitting a problem without the ability to fix it puts them in a vulnerable position.
• Short-term contracts: Hiring top managers for a period of less than 3-5 years encourages them to fight only for "quick wins," ignoring long-term risks.

Why Employees Stay Silent

The presentation details the reasons why grassroots personnel prefer not to report problems. The main factor is the fear of negative consequences for their career and income.

• Being made the "scapegoat": Employees fear that by reporting a problem (especially a long-standing one related to years of underinvestment), they themselves will be appointed responsible for solving it without being allocated the necessary resources.
• Threat to relationships with colleagues: Disclosing information can lead to the punishment of immediate supervisors (middle management), which destroys working relationships.
• Misunderstanding the scale of risks: Often, personnel simply do not realize the criticality of the situation due to ignorance of industry statistics and the experience of other enterprises (as was the case with the accident at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP).
• Accumulated culture of distrust: If previous reports of problems were ignored, employees lose the motivation to take initiative.

Solutions: From Owners to Line Personnel

The speaker emphasizes that changing the situation must start from the very top. Owners must perceive critical infrastructure facilities as long-term investments, not a source of immediate profit.

• Providing resources: Top management must have real financial and administrative resources to solve identified problems.
• Risk ranking: It is necessary to focus on the most critical threats, since it is impossible to eliminate absolutely all risks.
• Creating a safe environment: It is important to build a system of trust where reporting a problem is encouraged, not punished.
• In-depth incident investigation: The analysis should identify the systemic causes of violations, which often lie in a lack of resources or unfeasible plans.

In conclusion, the speaker gives an example of a successful pilot project where creating a safe environment made it possible to identify hundreds of problems and prevent two major accidents. However, the main challenge remains the willingness of management and owners to invest time and money in actually eliminating these risks.

What You Will Learn from This Webinar:

• Why do aggressive financial plans provoke the concealment of risk information?
• How do short-term contracts of top managers affect enterprise safety?
• Why are employees afraid to report equipment problems and how to overcome this fear?
• What steps must owners take to prevent major accidents?
• How to build a corporate culture that encourages open discussion of critical risks?