Jean-Christophe Le Coze
Risk Research Director
Ineris
When practice meets safety science, the challenge of multinational operations: unpacking L’Oréal’s Health & Safety strategy, journey and performance
Co-presented with Malcolm Staves
This presentation draws on the results of a study linking the latest research in safety science on the diversity of schools in the field (e.g., Behavioural Based Safety (BBS), new view, risk analysis, High Reliability Organizations (HRO), safety culture, psychological safety, HOP etc.) with the experience of a multinational, L’Oréal, which has developed a recognized high performing Health & Safety strategy through the deployment of tools and programs. The study discusses the key elements of this strategy in relation to safety science, the challenges, and the perspectives of a multinational learning to adapt as the operating landscape of businesses constantly evolve, with sites on different continents and diverse cultures.
Moving back and forth between research and practice, unveiling L’Oréal’s hybrid and integrated Health & safety approach, focusing on some of its key features (e.g., people-oriented, maturity driven). The presentation provides a unique space to explore the development of Health & Safety strategies, from design and implementation to evolution and adaptation and creates a space for open reflections, and dialogue on the realities of the challenge of multinational operations learning from the journey strategy implemented in L’Oréal for over 15 years. Attendees will be able to compare where they are on their cultural journey which may give insights into their future strategy development.
Jean-Christophe Le Coze is a research director at INERIS (National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks) in France. He holds a PhD (2011) in safety and risk management from Ecole des Mines de Paris. He has been studying and working with safety-critical organisations for more than twenty years (chemical, petrochemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear, railways, oil & gas), promoting a cognitive, sociological and strategic view of safety in increasingly global operating landscapes.
Jean-Christophe is regularly consulted by private and public organisations. He is known for his combination of practice and theory, his promotion of safety science research.
He is the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of several books including Safety in the Digital Age (with Stian Antonsen) (2023); Post Normal Accident. Revisiting Perrow’s classic (2020); Safety Science Research. Evolution, Challenges and New Directions (2019); His recent articles include “NASA, SpaceX, safety and (Post) Bureaucracy” (2024), “Coupling and Complexity at the global scale” (2023).
He is an Associate Editor of the journal Safety Science and is a member of several Think Tanks. He teaches safety in engineering and sociology universities.