Making sense of safety in systemic and cultural contexts

Abstract

This chapter discusses how the socially constructed meaning of ‘safety’ in a developing society differs from that in a developed society. We take a grounded theory approach to compare the contents and consequences of sensemaking on safety between Chongqing in mainland China and Hong Kong. We find that in the context of Chongqing, safety means workers’ self-interest and employers’ benevolence; while in the context of Hong Kong, both employers and workers make sense of safety as compliance to rules. The results show that in a developed society where regulations and management systems are well established, institutions are mediating the sensemaking between safety and the actors. While in a developing society where formal rules and systems are underdeveloped or absent, safety is processed in a more personal approach as reciprocity of benevolence between the workers and the employers. The finding implies that in the systemic and cultural context of a developing country, rules developed organically bottom-up will tackle safety issues better than a top-down coercive approach.