Safety-II in aviation: Organisational factors 6.7 times more common than individual mistakes

87% of factors attributed in operational failures linked to the organisation, hence 6.7 times more common than individual mistakes, according to this study.

The attached PDF explored the application of Safety-II principles in aviation.

Not a summary – let’s consider it a #lazyNYupload.

(** Note: Shared under an Open Access CC BY 4.0 licence, allowing it to be uploaded here.)

Some points:

·        As above, 87% of the factors attributed in failures were at the org level – whereas 13% were individual; hence the 6.7:1 ratio

·        Despite the organisational factors – “…safety departments focus predominantly on individual behavior modification and procedural compliance”

·        Safety activities may be treated as a checkbox or surface condition, until something goes wrong, rather than efforts to weave it into daily work

·        Even with advanced tech, pilots are still blamed for things that were designed poorly from the start

·        They operationalised “flight crew’s resilient behavior” models, “transforming abstract Safety-II concepts into concrete operational behaviors that address organizational deficiencies identified through Safety-I analysis”

·        And, their framework “demonstrated a transition from 54 discrete

contributing factors to 19 systematically related factors with clearer implementation pathways, indicating a potential for 65% reduction in implementation complexity while maintaining comprehensive improvement coverage”

As always, limitations present.

Ref: No, H. W., & Cha, W. C. (2025). An Integrated Framework for Implementing Safety-I and Safety-II Principles in Aviation Safety Management. Safety, 11(2), 56.

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Study link: https://doi.org/10.3390/safety11020056

LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benhutchinson2_safety-ii-framework-activity-7412261436728737792-4gyS?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAeWwekBvsvDLB8o-zfeeLOQ66VbGXbOpJU

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