Quantified KM value story #51 - Safety CoP at Misys

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Here is an interesting story about a Safety Community of Practice at Misys. The case study presented here involves Misys, a global software company with more than 4,500 employees aroundtheworld. Thehealthcaresystemsdivision has 140 field engineers, and Misys set up a Safety-focused Community of Practice around the field engineers, to look for ways to reduce the accident rate.

The results of the CoP are shown below, and show a remarkable decrease in Safety-related worker compensation claims.

 Number of Worker Compensation Claims
Pre-CoP - 4-5 per year
2006           2
2007           0

Cost of Worker Compensation Claims
Pre-CoP -    $10500
2006           $110
2007           $0

The conclusions of the study are as follows

Much knowledge exists within any work-group. Approaching such a group as a community of practice, then helping that community tap its knowledge is a way to build trust, creativity and strength. A dynamic organization takes full advantage of these informal communities and leverages their power to build a sustainable safety program.While this case study focused on field engineers, the same principles can be applied to all workgroups. ...... When considering a COP approach, SH&E professionals should focus on some key points (Wenger, 1996).

• View work or practice as learning.

• Focus on the informal opportunitiesfor learning. 

• Keep learning as close to practice aspossible.

• Find the COPs in the workplace andtreat them as an asset.

• Manage a COP like one would tend a garden,not fix a machine