This explored the links between safety management system factors and accident precursors, via structural equation modelling. Providing background: ·       The factors affecting SMS performance were referred to as SMS factors, and undesirable events or factors that precede and indicate the approach of an accident are referred to as accident precursors ·       Expanding on the definition,… Continue reading Finding causal paths between safety management system factors and accident precursors

This PhD dissertation from Anthony M. R. may interest people – it explored how bureaucratic structures influence or hamper adaptive responses of emergency management leaders, drawing on complex adaptive systems. Some findings: ·        “Traditional bureaucratic structures can impede an emergency management leader’s ability to balance formal organizational structure and adaptive behavior required to achieve successful operational… Continue reading The Influence of Bureaucratic Structures on Emergency Management Leaders’ Adaptive Responses

Does CEO overconfidence affect workplace safety? This studied the relationship between CEO overconfidence and workplace safety. Data was drawn from OSHA and firm financial performance and CEO compensation. For background: Key findings were: Ref: Chen, Y., Ofosu, E., Veeraraghavan, M., & Zolotoy, L. (2023). Does CEO overconfidence affect workplace safety?. Journal of Corporate Finance, 82, 102430. Study… Continue reading Does CEO overconfidence affect workplace safety?

This 1999 study evaluated the performance of a construction safety field observation method – called the TR safety observation method (‘TR’ is said to be an acronym for building construction in Finnish). I think this may interest people given the popularity of field-based critical control observation processes – you may even point out similarities with… Continue reading The validity of the TR safety observation method on building construction

Here’s another study exploring the effectiveness of root cause investigations (in healthcare). After a systematic search, 21 articles met inclusion for analysis. 9 articles were assessed as moderate quality, 5 considerable quality and 7 as high quality. Key findings: ·        “It is not clear if root cause analysis is effective in preventing the recurrence of adverse… Continue reading How Much of Root Cause Analysis Translates into Improved Patient Safety: A Systematic Review

This was a real banger – it discussed the NASA Challenger and Columbia investigation reports in the context of social theories of disaster, namely Normal Accident Theory (NAT), and High Reliability Theory (HRT). It took a critical view of whether it was fair to apply NAT and/or HRT to NASA in hindsight by the Columbia… Continue reading The importance of failure theories in assessing crisis management: The Columbia space shuttle disaster revisited

An interesting 2014 article from Scott Geller in Professional Safety, discussing how management approaches to safety can be a form of bullying and imposition of power. What he calls a safety bully. He suggests “This article challenges such self-talk by exploring how some common characteristics of traditional safety management can be perceived as bullying and,… Continue reading Are You a Safety Bully? Recognizing Management Methods That Can Do More Harm Than Good

Just a brief one today – this study is one of MANY looking at machine learning and big data to draw trends out of incident data. Normally I pass on these studies, but I found this one had an interesting result. They explored: (1) Do text narratives have enough information to predict the outcome of… Continue reading Narratives in incident investigations found to outperform structured categorised factors in accident prediction

A great read exploring the definitions, characteristics, classifications and management approaches for behavioural deviations – specifically human error and violation of rules. Note – the paper uses words like deviation and human error but is actually pretty neutral and pretty empathetic of their judgemental tone. For ease I’m using their language, but categorically dislike ‘deviation’… Continue reading Human error and violation of rules in industrial safety: A systematic literature review

How does a decentralised management structure impact staff sickness absence? Fairly promisingly, according to this new study. A two-wave, web-survey of >300 frontline managers in two Danish university hospitals was undertaken. For background: ·        “Sickness absence is a reliable indicator of employees’ wellbeing and it is linked to management quality” ·        “We break the concept of decentralized… Continue reading Impact of decentralized management on sickness absence in hospitals: a two-wave cohort study of frontline managers in Danish hospital wards