In 2024 and 2025, Foncsi conducted a strategic analysis “Safety, skills and careers by 2040.”

This new publication presents the results of the academic seminar for this strategic analysis which was held in November 2024 with around ten international experts.
 

Consult and download this book:
The Shaken Foundations of Safety

What is it about?

This book, published in open access with Springer, analyzes the threats to safety in high-risk industries linked to skills challenges. It highlights the impact of changes in the workplace driven by technological advances — particularly digitalization, demographic shifts and a decline of appeal in certain industrial sectors. The various articles address these issues — which have yet been little studied — from the perspective of safety culture.

The first part of the book examines the collective dimension of skills and their development over time. It also looks at the “learning gap”, which undermines the transfer of knowledge between professional generations. The book further explores the effects of digitalization on workplace dynamics and teams.
The following sections propose courses of action in the areas of training, organization and management. 

Rather than providing ready-made answers, this book offers a strategic, organizational and contextualized perspective on the maintenance and development of skills for the future of high-risk industries in a changing world.

 

Articles and Authors

This academic book is composed of 11 chapters from international experts’ presentations who were invited to the academic seminar.

 

  1. “Bridging Skills and Safety”, from Hervé Laroche (Foncsi, France)
  2. “ A Longitudinal View of Competencies. Careers, Professional Paths, and Trajectories”, from Alexandre Largier et Audrey Marquet (ASNR, France)
  3. “Managing Skills in a World of Radical Unpredictability. The Pioneering Experience of the Nuclear Industry”, from Frédéric Garcias (University of Lille, France)
  4. “Digital Transitions in Industrial Work. Between Skills Development and Deskilling Risks”, from Marta Santos (University of Porto, Portugal)
  5. “Applying Resilience Engineering to Real-World Work”, from Elizabeth A. Lay (Forge Works, USA)
  6. “Tackling the ‘Eternal Beginners’ Problem in Safety Management. The Case of Occasional Crisis Responders”, from Elleke Ketelaars (Université of Geneva, Switzerland), Martin Viktorelius (University of Halmstad, Sweden) et Simon Flandin (University of Genève, Switzerland)
  7. “Overcoming the Paradox of Training Design for Future and Ill-Defined Practices. The Case of Nuclear Dismantling Teleoperators”, from Laurane De Carvalho  (University of Geneva, Switzerland), Raluca Ciobanu  (EDF, France) and Germain Poizat  (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
  8. “Skills and Careers by 2040. Emerging Challenges and Skills-Based Solutions to Foster Employability of Workers”, from Annet de Lange (Berenschot, Netherlands)
  9. “How to Address Skills Gaps. A Review of Organizational Strategies”, from Manuel Souto-Otero (University of Bristol, United-Kingdom)
  10. “Competencies and Skills for Navigating Uncertain and Interdependent Systems of the Future”, from Mark A. Griffin (Curtin University, Australia)
  11. “Meeting the Skills Challenge. Fostering a Compensation Strategy for Safe Performance”, from Stéphanie Tillement (IMT Atlantique, France)
     

 

This is the 18th book published by Foncsi with Springer, in its “SpingerBriefs in Safety Management” series.

Enjoy your reading!

 

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