A recent discussion prompted the question of what is and is not Safety-II – or really any other facet of the adaptive philosophies.
Here you’ll find several extracts from the research covering definitions, key concepts and more.
Safety-I, Safety-II, HOP, Safety Differently, New View and Safety-III**
A recent discussion prompted the question of what is and is not Safety-II – or really any other facet of the adaptive philosophies.
Here you’ll find several extracts from the research covering definitions, key concepts and more.
Note: If I make any updates to this article then it will be via my site, not LinkedIn.
Safety-I, Safety-II, HOP, Safety Differently, New View and Safety-III**
Aven 2022. A risk science perspective on the discussion concerning Safety I, Safety II and Safety III
** ‘Safety-III’, per Hollnagel’s original definition and conceptulisation, isn’t possible.
Cooper, M. D. (2022). The Emperor has no clothes: A critique of Safety-II.Cooper, M. D. (2022). The Emperor has no clothes: A critique of Safety-II.Love, P. E., Matthews, J., Porter, S. R., Carey, B., & Fang, W. (2023). Quality II: A new paradigm for construction.continued in below imageLeveson, N. (2020). Safety III: A systems approach to safety and resilience.De Leo, F., Elia, V., Gnoni, M. G., & Tornese, F. (2023). Integrating safety-I and safety-II approaches in near miss management: A critical analysis.De Leo, F., Elia, V., Gnoni, M. G., & Tornese, F. (2023). Integrating safety-I and safety-II approaches in near miss management: A critical analysis.De Leo, F., Elia, V., Gnoni, M. G., & Tornese, F. (2023). Integrating safety-I and safety-II approaches in near miss management: A critical analysis.continued belowKaranikas, N., & Zerguine, H. (2024). Are the new safety paradigms (only) about safety and sufficient to ensure it? An overview and critical commentary.Jones, C. E., Phipps, D. L., & Ashcroft, D. M. (2018). Understanding procedural violations using Safety-I and Safety-II: The case of community pharmacies.Schröder-Hinrichs, J. U., Praetorius, G., Graziano, A., Kataria, A., & Baldauf, M. (2016). Introducing the concept of resilience into maritime safety. InLe Coze, J. C. (2022). The ‘new view’of human error. Origins, ambiguities, successes and critiques.Le Coze, J. C. (2022). The ‘new view’of human error. Origins, ambiguities, successes and critiques.Dekker, S. (2014). Human Factors for a New Era – Second Edition. CRC PressHollnagel, E. 2018. Safety-I and safety-II: the past and future of safety management
Vandeskog, B. (2024) Safety is the preservation of value. Journal of Safety Research, p. S0022437524000185
Resilience Engineering
Righi, Angela Weber, Tarcisio Abreu Saurin, and Priscila Wachs. “A systematic literature review of resilience engineering: Research areas and a research agenda proposal.”Pillay, M., & Morel, G. (2020). Measuring resilience engineering: an integrative review and framework for bench-marking organisational safety.Pillay, Manikam. “Resilience engineering: an integrative review of fundamental concepts and directions for future research in safety management.”Erik Hollnagel. From protection to resilience: Changing views on how to achieve safety. 8th International Symposium of the Australian Aviation Psychology Association, Apr 2008, Sydney, Australia. 7 p. ffhal-00614256fErik Hollnagel. From protection to resilience: Changing views on how to achieve safety. 8th International Symposium of the Australian Aviation Psychology Association, Apr 2008, Sydney, Australia. 7 p. ffhal-00614256fErik Hollnagel. From protection to resilience: Changing views on how to achieve safety. 8th International Symposium of the Australian Aviation Psychology Association, Apr 2008, Sydney, Australia. 7 p. ffhal-00614256f
Resilience
Martínez, K., & Claudio, D. (2023). Expanding Fundamental Boundaries between Resilience and Survivability in Systems Engineering: A Literature Review.Righi, Angela Weber, Tarcisio Abreu Saurin, and Priscila Wachs. “A systematic literature review of resilience engineering: Research areas and a research agenda proposal.”Righi, Angela Weber, Tarcisio Abreu Saurin, and Priscila Wachs. “A systematic literature review of resilience engineering: Research areas and a research agenda proposal.”Pillay, Manikam. “Resilience engineering: an integrative review of fundamental concepts and directions for future research in safety management.”Martínez, K., & Claudio, D. (2023). Expanding Fundamental Boundaries between Resilience and Survivability in Systems Engineering: A Literature Review.Mentges, A., Halekotte, L., Schneider, M., Demmer, T., & Lichte, D. (2023). A resilience glossary shaped by context: Reviewing resilience-related terms for critical infrastructures.continued belowMentges, A., Halekotte, L., Schneider, M., Demmer, T., & Lichte, D. (2023). A resilience glossary shaped by context: Reviewing resilience-related terms for critical infrastructures.Anderson, J. E., Ross, A. J., Macrae, C. & Wiig, S. (2020). Defining adaptive capacity in healthcare: A new framework for researching resilient performance. Applied Ergonomics, 87, 103111. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103111Vert, M., Sharpanskykh, A., & Curran, R. (2021). Adaptive resilience of complex safety-critical sociotechnical systems: Toward a unified conceptual framework and its formalization.continued belowAnderson, J. E., Ross, A. J., Macrae, C. & Wiig, S. (2020). Defining adaptive capacity in healthcare: A new framework for researching resilient performance. Applied Ergonomics, 87, 103111. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103111
Adaptive Capacities
Salehi, V., & Veitch, B. (2020). Measuring and analyzing adaptive capacity at management levels of resilient systems.
Procedures, WAI/WAD, resilience
Anderson, J. E., & Watt, A. J. (2020). Using Safety-II and resilient healthcare principles to learn from Never Events.
Resilient Health Care
Iflaifel, M., Lim, R. H., Ryan, K., & Crowley, C. (2020). Resilient health care: a systematic review of conceptualisations, study methods and factors that develop resilience.continued belowTan, M. Z., Prager, G., McClelland, A., & Dark, P. (2023). Healthcare resilience: a meta-narrative systematic review and synthesis of reviews.Anderson, J. E., Ross, A. J., Macrae, C. & Wiig, S. (2020). Defining adaptive capacity in healthcare: A new framework for researching resilient performance. Applied Ergonomics, 87, 103111. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103111
Resilience Engineering Indicators & SMS
Ranasinghe, U., Jefferies, M., Davis, P., & Pillay, M. (2020). Resilience engineering indicators and safety management: A systematic review.Penaloza, G. A., Saurin, T. A., Formoso, C. T., & Herrera, I. A. (2020). A resilience engineering perspective of safety performance measurement systems: A systematic literature review.Penaloza, G. A., Saurin, T. A., Formoso, C. T., & Herrera, I. A. (2020). A resilience engineering perspective of safety performance measurement systems: A systematic literature review.continued belowPeñaloza, G. A., Saurin, T. A., & Formoso, C. T. (2020). Monitoring complexity and resilience in construction projects: The contribution of safety performance measurement systems.
Sociotechnical Systems & Complexity
Saurin, T. A., Righi, A., & Henriqson, É. (2013). Characteristics of complex socio-technical systems and guidelines for their management: the role of resilience.Dekker, S. (2014). Human Factors for a New Era – Second Edition. CRC PressHollnagel, E. (2020). Synesis
Broader Definitions
Raheemy, Y., Sherratt, F., & Hallowell, M. R. (2025). What is safety? contemporary definitions and interpretations across North America. Safety Science, 185, 106798.
Thanks so much Ben for this ‘labour of love’! Love the nuggets you uncover and regularly encourage folks to subscribe! Hey, I’m looking for info on HOP/new view/Safety II and SMSs. I like the info above: Resilience Engineering Indicators & SMS. Wondering where I can find the papers – should I go to LinkedIn? Can you recommend any other sources? Thanks again Ben! Very helpful!
SafetyInsights.org 
Thanks so much Ben for this ‘labour of love’! Love the nuggets you uncover and regularly encourage folks to subscribe! Hey, I’m looking for info on HOP/new view/Safety II and SMSs. I like the info above: Resilience Engineering Indicators & SMS. Wondering where I can find the papers – should I go to LinkedIn? Can you recommend any other sources? Thanks again Ben! Very helpful!
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Hi Heather,
Here’s some of the links. For the more recent compendiums I’ve started to include the links:
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