Browsing by Author "Summerill, Corinna"

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    Improved water safety planning: insights into the role of organisational culture
    (Cranfield University, 2010-08) Summerill, Corinna; Smith, Jennifer A.; Pollard, Simon J. T.
    Unsafe water, as many recent outbreaks have shown, has the potential to cause widespread illness and even death. Water Safety Plans (WSPs) are advocated as the best way of ensuring good safe drinking water using a risk management approach. Using a case study approach to generate qualitative data, organisational culture and WSP development in water suppliers of varying size, development and structure was studied to look for examples of best practice or barriers to effective implementation. Despite WSPs being promoted since 2004, suppliers are still experiencing challenges in implementation, with deeper organisational culture barriers prevalent such as: lack of awareness and recognition; uncertainty; complacency; poor internal relationships; competing priorities; and contrasting internal cultures, in addition to the commonly espoused reasons of a lack of time or resources. Concern was raised that the public health motivator of WSPs was becoming lost, as a wide range of additional ‘added value’ drivers and benefits were identified such as cost savings or commercial drivers. This was echoed in broader organisational missions and drivers identified; whilst may employees still identified quality and public health as important, more formal declarations often prioritised other areas. In response to identified organisational culture barriers, a ‘taxonomy’ of positive cultural attributes and a number of practical tools were developed that may assist suppliers in developing a supportive organisational culture for sustainable WSP implementation. These positive elements included: managerial commitment; learning culture; effective internal and external relationships; accountability; open reporting culture; continual improvement culture; empowerment of staff; organisational commitment; proactivity; leadership and advocacy; mindfulness of public health; image and competitiveness. A number of recommendations can be made to those wishing to implement WSPs. Primarily, it is urged that organisational culture and how it can impact on effective WSP implementation should be considered. Perceived lack of time and resources may actually be representative of deeper cultural barriers, and recognise that WSP implementation is more than just following a set of instructions, it will require instilling a water safety ‘culture’ within the organisation.
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    An international review of the challenges associated with securing 'buy-in' for water safety plans within providers of drinking water supplies
    (Iwa Publishing, 2010-12-31T00:00:00Z) Summerill, Corinna; Smith, Jennifer A.; Webster, James; Pollard, Simon J. T.
    Since publication of the 3rd Edition of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Drinking Water Quality guidelines, global uptake of water safety plans (WSPs) has been gathering momentum. Most guidance lists managerial commitment and ‘buy- in' as critical to the success of WSP implementation; yet the detail on how to generate it is lacking. This review discusses aspects of managerial commitment to WSPs. We argue that the public health motivator should be clearer and a paramount objective, not lost among other, albeit legitimate, drivers such as political or regulatory pressures and financial efficienc
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    Securing executive buy-in for preventative risk management - lessons from water safety plans
    (Iwa Publishing, 2011-12-31T00:00:00Z) Summerill, Corinna; Pollard, Simon J. T.; Smith, Jennifer A.; Breach, B.; Williams, T.
    Appropriate implementation of water safety plans (WSPs) offers an important opportunity to engage in and promote preventative risk management within water utilities. To ensure success, the whole organization, especially executive management, need to be advocates. Illustrated by four case studies, we discuss the influence of organisational culture on buy-in and commitment to WSPs. Despite an internal desire to undertake risk management, aspects of organisational culture prevented these from reaching full potential. Enabling cultural features included: enthusiastic management; past incidents; accountability; insufficient regulations; image; learning and continual improvement cultures; stakeholder relationships; and empowerment of staff. Blocking features included: lack of awareness and recognition; complacency; poor internal relationships; competing priorities; lack of resources and skills; contrasting internal cultures and a lack of near miss reporting. Benefits of WSP implementation and how management are committed are also discussed. We offer some suggestions to those wishing to generate executive buy-in such as: understanding reasons for hesitance; demonstrate benefits; avoiding complacency; highlight building blocks of WSPs and recognising the value of using the WSP approach to inform sound investment planning. We urge water utilities to consider the influence of organisational culture on the success and sustainability of WSP adoption, and to better understand how effective leadership can mould culture to support implementation.
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    Water safety plan implementation in East Africa: Motivations and barriers
    (Intermediate Technology Publications, 2013-04-30T00:00:00Z) Parker, Alison; Summerill, Corinna
    Water safety plans (WSPs) are a comprehensive source-to-tap risk management approach that are recognized as the most effective way of ensuring drinking water safety. In East Africa there is only one utility implementing them, so this research aims to identify barriers for WSP implementation in this region, as well as potential motivating factors. This is achieved through 20 semi-structured interviews with utilities, regulators, and international agencies. The biggest motivating factor was the potential of WSPs to improve standards and reduce water quality incidents, with the potential for cost savings and non-revenue water reduction as further motivations. However, in many utilities senior managers are not motivated to start implementing WSPs and they can prevent other staff from doing so. Smaller or weaker utilities may struggle to implement a WSP as they are constantly engaged in their day-to-day problems and do not have the capacity to plan for the longer term.