This feasibility study explores the potential impact of establishing a global What Works Centre for Safety. The research methods include literature reviews, interviews, and workshops. The study concludes that establishing a novel centre and stakeholder network for safety would add value to existing work in this area. The feasibility of the centre will depend on the balance struck across different strategic dimensions identified in this study.

Feasibility Study for a What Works Centre for Safety

Giulia Maistrello, Robert Donoghue, William Phillips, Avery Adams, Jessica Dawney, Eliane Dufresne, Fifi Olumogba, Richard Heron, Christian Van Stolk, Nick Fahy

ResearchPublished Sep 11, 2023

This feasibility study aims to understand the potential impact of establishing a novel What Works Centre for Safety, focused on the safety of life and property worldwide. The study seeks to identify how such a centre could achieve and show impact, as well as how it could best be established and sustained in the longer term. The study used a combination of research methods, including literature reviews, interviews and workshops with experts and representatives of evidence centres, and two scoping studies on how an evidence centre for safety could operate in specific areas.

Overall, the study concludes that establishing a novel evidence centre and stakeholder network for safety would add value to existing work in this area, and the feasibility of the centre will depend on the balance struck across different strategic dimensions identified in this study.

Key Findings

Establishing a novel evidence centre for safety is feasible but stakeholder engagement is key.

The idea of a novel evidence centre for safety is greeted with enthusiasm by stakeholders. Establishing such centre and achieving impact is feasible, but active engagement with stakeholders throughout the process is central, as is recognition that decisions on policy and practice are complex processes where evidence is important but not the sole factor.

The route to impact is challenging and long.

Demonstrating impact from evidence centres is a difficult and lengthy process; it is more feasible to measure outputs and outcomes and combine these with a clear model for how these are expected to achieve impact over time.

We identified six key components of evidence centres.

The research team identified six strategic dimensions that characterise the composition of evidence centres: area of focus, geography, target of change, function, stakeholder engagement, and funding. Existing evidence centres adopt diverse approaches along these dimensions, indicating multiple ways in which a novel centre for safety could achieve its objectives.

Two scoping studies revealed the challenges and possibilities of a novel centre for safety.

To illustrate how a novel evidence centre for safety might work in practice, the research team conducted two scoping studies in areas of interest: the wellbeing of seafarers, and safety within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These scoping studies show clear potential for a centre to add value. However, they also illustrate the challenges involved, and some of the different balances to be struck across the different strategic dimensions. This underlines the importance of the choices made in relation to setting up such a centre.

Recommendations

  • The scope of targeting 'safety of life and property' is very broad; we recommend working with stakeholders to identify priorities and reduce the potential scope to a manageable focus.
  • We recommend that the centre takes an international perspective and progressively seeks out partnerships and opportunities around the world that reflect priority areas of focus.
  • In addition to generating evidence, we recommend that the centre supports the use of evidence on safety for policy and practice more broadly.
  • We recommend placing stakeholders at the heart of the centre and adopting a participatory approach from the start.
  • We recommend that the centre primarily targets safety professionals, rather than primarily policymakers, and engages with the private as well as the public sectors.
  • Based on the experience of existing 'what works' centres and other evidence into policy and practice centres, we recommend an initial commitment to funding for ten years to safeguard independence and start seeing an impact, with the centre also using that period to explore other financing options. There are a wide range of forms the centre could take; the key recommendation for the centre's governance is to be independent and credible, regardless of how it is formally constituted.

Topics

Document Details

  • Copyright: Lloyd's Register Foundation
  • Publisher: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web-Only
  • Year: 2023
  • Pages: 52
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA2792-1
  • Document Number: RR-A2792-1

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Maistrello, Giulia, Robert Donoghue, William Phillips, Avery Adams, Jessica Dawney, Eliane Dufresne, Fifi Olumogba, Richard Heron, Christian Van Stolk, and Nick Fahy, Feasibility Study for a What Works Centre for Safety. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2023. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA2792-1.html.
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The research described in this report was prepared for the Lloyd's Register Foundation and conducted by RAND Europe.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

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