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New research on safety from Harvard Business School faculty on issues including workplace safety, working conditions of offshore vendors, and the integrity of private third-party compliance monitoring.
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When the Rubber Meets the Road, Most Commuters Text and Email While Driving

by Jay Fitzgerald

Laws and grim warnings have done little to deter distracted driving. Commuters routinely use their time behind the wheel to catch up on emails, says research by Raffaella Sadun, Thomaz Teodorovicz, and colleagues. What will it take to make roads safer?

This Workplace Certification Made Already Safe Companies Even Safer

by Rachel Layne

New research by Michael Toffel and colleagues confirms what workplace safety advocates have long claimed: Adopting OHSAS 18001 reduces worker injuries and improves a brand's image. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Can Autonomous Vehicles Drive with Common Sense?

by Michael Blanding

Driverless vehicles could improve global health as much as the introduction of penicillin. But consumers won't trust the cars until they behave more like humans, argues Julian De Freitas. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

How a New Leader Broke Through a Culture of Accuse, Blame, and Criticize

Re: Amy C. Edmondson

Children’s Hospital & Clinics COO Julie Morath sets out to change the culture by instituting a policy of blameless reporting, which encourages employees to report anything that goes wrong or seems substandard, without fear of reprisal. Professor Amy Edmondson discusses getting an organization into the “High Performance Zone.” Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Throwing the Baby Out with the Drinking Water: Unintended Consequences of Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh

by Nina Buchmann, Erica Field, Rachel Glennerster, and Reshmaan Hussam

In this study, households that were encouraged to switch water sources to avoid arsenic exposure experienced a significant rise in infant and child mortality, likely due to diarrheal disease from exposure to unsafe alternatives. Public health interventions should carefully consider access to alternatives when engaging in mass behavior change efforts.

How Wegmans Became a Leader in Improving Food Safety

Re: Ray A. Goldberg

Ray Goldberg discusses how the CEO of the Wegmans grocery chain faced a food safety issue and then helped the industry become more proactive. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

A Simple Way for Restaurant Inspectors to Improve Food Safety

by Carmen Nobel

Basic tweaks to the schedules of food safety inspectors could prevent millions of foodborne illnesses, according to new behavioral science research by Maria Ibáñez and Michael Toffel. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

What Brands Can Do to Monitor Factory Conditions of Suppliers

by Michael Blanding

For better or for worse, it’s fallen to multinational corporations to police the overseas factories of suppliers in their supply chains—and perhaps make them better. Michael W. Toffel examines how. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

by John A. Quelch

The recent tragedies in Orlando underscore that businesses and their customers seem increasingly vulnerable to harm, so why don't companies do and say more about security? The ugly truth is safety doesn't sell, says John Quelch. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

The Integrity of Private Third-party Compliance Monitoring

by Michael W. Toffel & Jodi L. Short

Michael Toffel and Jodi Short examine how conflict of interest and other risks lead to inaccurate monitoring of health, labor, and environmental standards.

OSHA Inspections: Protecting Employees or Killing Jobs?

by Michael Blanding

As the federal agency responsible for enforcing workplace safety, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is often at the center of controversy. Associate Professor Michael W. Toffel and colleague David I. Levine report surprising findings about randomized government inspections. Key concepts include: In a natural field experiment, researchers found that companies subject to random OSHA inspections showed a 9.4 percent decrease in injury rates compared with uninspected firms. The researchers found no evidence of any cost to inspected companies complying with regulations. Rather, the decrease in injuries led to a 26 percent reduction in costs from medical expenses and lost wages—translating to an average of $350,000 per company. The findings strongly indicate that OSHA regulations actually save businesses money. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.

Terror at the Taj

by Julia Hanna

Under terrorist attack, employees of the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower bravely stayed at their posts to help guests. A look at the hotel's customer-centered culture and value system. Open for comment; 0 Comments.