The bomb crater effect under the influence of audit feedback: Now you see me, now you don't

Safety-related rule violations in High Reliability Organizations have the potential to cause accidents, with severe consequences for people, organizations or even society. To prevent such accidents, safety audits are conducted to monitor and ensure high safety standards. In the area of finance, over the last decade, studies have investigated a counterproductive effect of tax audits, termed the bomb crater effect. This describes an increased tendency to evade taxes after a conducted audit. As underlying dynamic the loss repair is contrasted with the misperception of chance. Transferring these investigations to the field of process industries, we also investigated the bomb crater effect (and its promoting latent variables) after safety-related audits. Using WaTrSim, a simulated waste water treatment plant, we analyzed the data of 231 participants - trained as control room operators - regarding the impact of framed production outcomes and the effect of positive or negative audit feedback with financial punishments as a consequence of rule violations. We found strong evidence, that negative audit feedback and loss framing influence an operatoŕs tendency to violate safety rules after an audit.