This meta-analysis analysed 79 studies to determine whether accident proneness really exists. Accident proneness is the clustering of accident-related health problems in some individuals compared to others. For instance, an earlier study from 1919 “were the first to observe that a relatively small proportion of workers in a British munitions factory had most of the… Continue reading Does Accident Proneness exist? A meta-analysis suggests ‘Yes’

For a brief paper (two pages), this is a hard hitter. The late Bob Wears discusses some challenges with myopic focus on “error”. I’ll use a lot of direct quotes since I can’t put it any better than the author. Fundamentally, he says we can look at human error in two ways. 1.       As a… Continue reading The Error of Counting “Errors”

Can’t remember if I’ve posted this already, but this open access paper systematically reviewed the literature on the efficacy of interventions in preventing work accidents, up to 2015. 100 studies met quality inclusion, representing 31 million pooled individuals in 59 interventions. They found that “Strong evidence supports greater effects being achieved with safety interventions directed… Continue reading Safety interventions for the prevention of accidents at work: A systematic review

This systematic review evaluated the evidence surrounding behavioural interventions in improving safety injuries and incidents. All the usual precautions about the stability of incident data remain. 19 studies met inclusion criteria. While I’m not a proponent of behavioural approaches, I post this in response to comments on LinkedIn about how “behavioural/BBS programs don’t work”. I… Continue reading Effective Components of Behavioural Interventions Aiming to Reduce Injury within the Workplace: A Systematic Review

What is the relationship between network resilience (* capacity for) and actual project performance? A 2016 study to be posted in the coming weeks explored this relationship across three mega-projects. Overall: ·        Networks with better interaction and structure have higher resilience indices to risks ·        Higher (network) resilience indices correlated with better actual safety performance ·        Network structure,… Continue reading Network resilience, communication and better actual safety performance

Should we count crows or errors? The late, great Bob Wears discusses some challenges with a myopic focus on “error”. Post in the next couple of weeks. He focuses on the matter in healthcare, saying that despite the push for innovation, the industry “remains trapped by old ideas [of human performance]. He says that this… Continue reading Error counting and old ways to think about human performance

This systematic review examined the effectiveness of workplace safety training interventions aimed at supervisors from 22 studies between 2000-19. Training interventions were grouped into 5 domains (expanded below). Importantly, all 22 included studies were graded as methodologically weak. Results: Overall, consistent evidence was found for the effectiveness of supervisory training interventions across several outcome measures.… Continue reading Effectiveness of safety training interventions for supervisors: A systematic review and narrative synthesis

One of several fascinating papers exploring the language of more radical-leaning/conspiracy communities. I suspect this topic won’t appeal to most. My prompt for reading this was an observation of similarities in language from people I’d, judgementally, considered to be more extreme-leaning. Using words like sheep/sheeple, allegedly, puppets, or putting words like scientists or research in… Continue reading The language of conspiracy believers

This paper undertook in-depth interviews with surviving family members to understand their experiences following work-related deaths in Australia. Note, the findings date back pre-2010. Providing background: ·       Little research has been undertaken on the consequences of surviving families, following work deaths ·       In 2008-9, 286 workers died from traumatic incidents at work, and as with… Continue reading The Adequacy of Institutional Responses to Death at Work: Experiences of Surviving Families

Some apt conclusions from a coronial inquiry regarding a workplace fatality in 2006. In this example, the coroner was critical of an excess focus on using SWMS/work instructions to monitor safety rather than a focus on actual work. Moreover, the coroner argues that, “the monitoring of safety in a workplace cannot properly function with such… Continue reading Coroner report: Excess focus on work instructions/SWMS and the artificial division between safety professionals and risky work