Abstract Risk matrices are used in process safety to rate and rank risks of hazardous events to help with decision making on risk reduction for processes. For example, commonly they are used in process hazard analysis to rate the risks of hazard scenarios. Flaws in their theoretical framework and mathematical inconsistencies in their use have… Continue reading Designing risk matrices to avoid risk ranking reversal errors

This studied the relationship between unexpected events and project performance in 21 projects (which were evaluated 3-12 years after project completion). It’s argued that traditional project management theory often highlights inaccurate foresight, optimism biases and poor planning as key causal factors in unexpected events throughout the project lifecycle. Instead, these authors sought to explore how… Continue reading Wrong, but not failed – A study of unexpected events and project performance in 21 engineering projects

This prospective cohort study looked at whether a five-item safety climate survey administered in 2012 was predictive for accidents reported two years later in that sample of participants. 3,864 blue-collar workers were included in the survey study. Being a survey study, it also has the usual limitations, including self-recall of accidents. Safety climate questions were… Continue reading Is perception of safety climate a relevant predictor for occupational accidents? Prospective cohort study among blue-collar workers

Abstract In recent years, the U.S. commercial airline industry has achieved unprecedented levels of safety, with the statistical risk associated with U.S. commercial aviation falling to 0.003 fatalities per 100 million passengers. But decades of research on organizational learning show that success often breeds complacency and failure inspires improvement. With accidents as rare events, can… Continue reading Airline Safety Improvement Through Experience with Near-Misses: A Cautionary Tale

This systematically reviewed the evidence around production pressures within the building sector of the construction industry. Specifically, they explored the causes of production pressure, its effects on construction activities, and a review of strategies to minimise its causes and effects. 37 studies were included. Note that the findings themselves won’t be much of a surprise… Continue reading Production pressures in the building sector of the construction industry: a systematic review of literature

Abstract The safety climate in an organization is determined by how managers balance the relative importance of safety and productivity. This gives leaders a central role in safety in an organization, and from this follows that leadership training may improve safety. Transformational leadership may be one important component but may need to be combined with… Continue reading Leadership training as an occupational health intervention: Improved safety and sustained productivity

This explored the association between exposure to workplace physical and verbal aggression with workplace injuries and underreporting of accidents and near misses. In discussing the research, it’s said that victims of workplace aggressive behaviours is high: one out of every six fatal work injury over 213 in the US was due to workplace assaults and… Continue reading Voices carry: Effects of verbal and physical aggression on injuries and accident reporting

This explored how complaining about OHS affected collective OHS action and the quality of manager-worker relations. Specifically: how complaining downplayed or built social boundaries between workers and managers. The study was based on a Danish construction project. It’s argued that complaining may be an important social activity to build shared ground for collective action and… Continue reading Complaining about occupational safety and health: a barrier for collaboration between managers and workers on construction sites

This paper briefly discussed some problems with incident reporting, focusing mostly in healthcare. In originally translating incident reporting from aviation into healthcare, it’s noted that while airlines had a long history of rapid detection and resolution of issues via a deeply embedded social infrastructure, healthcare largely lacked this. Whereas airlines had the history of systematic… Continue reading The problem with incident reporting

Moral disengagement (MD) is the process by which individuals mitigate the consequences of their own violations of moral standards. Although MD is understood to be co-determined by culture norms, no study has yet explored the extent to which MD applied to safety at work (JS-MD) fosters safety violations (e.g., accident underreporting), nor the role of… Continue reading Safety Culture, Moral Disengagement, and Accident Underreporting