Societal risk and safety management : Policy diffusion, management structures and perspectives at the municipal level in Sweden

Abstract: The compilation thesis investigates Societal Risk and Safety Management (SRSM) at the Swedish local governmental level. It sets special focus on municipal implementation of overall international and national strategies and objectives regarding holistic, cross-sectorial and multi-strategic risk and safety work, and prevention of accidents/injuries and promotion of safety.Three different sources constitute the thesis empirical bases: two different sets of official governmental planning documents, written by Swedish municipal officials on commission of the local politicians and one set of data from a survey investigation with municipal officials (n=1283), representing different administrative departments/functions within different municipalities. The official documents were investigated using content analysis methodology, while data from the survey were analyzed using various statistical investigations.Article I presents a descriptive review of what risks related to health, safety and security issues that were considered in a set Municipal comprehensive master plans (n=50) due to the Swedish Plan and Building Act (SFS 1987:10). Article II focus on the cross-sectorial and holistic aspects regarding risk and safety views in the first generation of Municipal action programs (n=40) due to the Swedish Civil Protection Act against accidents (SFS 1987:10). Article III uses survey-data to statistically frame the current directions for inner allocations of SRSM-tasks within the Swedish municipalities’, while Article IV sets focus on the implementation of risk and safety management activities in the municipal administrative structure.This thesis suggests a conceptual and systemic model for SRSM’s contextual and analytical elements, and provides through its empirical works an overview of management perspectives and administrative structures applied, and it proposes a municipal typology and a set of value characters for allocation and institutionalization of SRSM-tasks locally.