This well-cited paper from Hopkins (2007) discusses some of the inconsistencies that existed at the time (and likely does still) about process safety indicators, and the definitions and uses of other indicators like leading and lagging. This paper sparked a number of interested follow-up papers from other authors – I’ll cover some of these soon.… Continue reading Thinking About Process Safety Indicators
Author: Ben Hutchinson
The relationships between safety professionals and incident performance
What’s the relationship between safety professionals and incident frequency? I was reminded recently (thanks Stuart Hughes) that I ran a simple project a while back looking at if there was any guidance or evidence behind the effects of safety professionals on incidents, and whether having more or less changes the impact. I didn’t find much… Continue reading The relationships between safety professionals and incident performance
From individual behaviour to system weaknesses: The re-design of the Just Culture process in an international energy company. A case study
This 2018 paper explored the effects of a re-designed Just Culture (JC) process in an international energy company. It’s a solid read and worth your time – I’ve had to skip heaps. Providing background: · This organisation started using the James Reason JC framework in 201, but collective experience in the organisation “indicated that the… Continue reading From individual behaviour to system weaknesses: The re-design of the Just Culture process in an international energy company. A case study
Fantasy planning: The gap between systems of safety and safety of systems
Not sure if I ever properly shared this – but this was my first conference paper released back in 2018. It’s a HIGHLY condensed version of a much larger paper I wrote, and hope to publish one day. It covers a range of topics around symbolic safety, false assurance, ‘fantasy planning’, and catastrophic accidents which… Continue reading Fantasy planning: The gap between systems of safety and safety of systems
Normal accident theory and learning from major accidents at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
This paper discussed four major NASA accidents in the context of Normal Accident Theory (NAT), high reliability and some other aspects of organisational theory. Then they discuss some ‘remedies’ to counter some of the organisational risk factors. I’ve skipped large amounts of this paper, so much that maybe even parts of this summary won’t make… Continue reading Normal accident theory and learning from major accidents at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Quantitative Risk Assessments as Enabling Devices in Cybersecurity
Oof, a real banger Master’s from Colette Alexander, exploring the role of Quantitative Risk Assessments (QRA) as fantasy documents and enabling devices in cybersecurity. Can’t do this justice, so just a few extracts: “Even though it is often touted as a value of producing QRA, organizational learning was not an objective for any of the… Continue reading Quantitative Risk Assessments as Enabling Devices in Cybersecurity
Safety Theatre: Where your accidents hide in the green
This article from Dekker discusses how accidents “hide in the green” within organisations. He covers a lot of ground, and I can’t cover all of the key points, so you’ll find my paragraphs pretty disjointed and jarring; so check out the full paper. Firstly, it’s stated that incidents involving fatalities seemed to have a consistency… Continue reading Safety Theatre: Where your accidents hide in the green
Workplace risk management practices to prevent musculoskeletal and mental health disorders: What are the gaps?
This explored two industry sectors with high risk of both musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) and mental health disorders (MHDs) and what workplace risk management practices are in place to manage those issues. Safety documents were revised and interviews were obtained from organisations within both sectors. 10 logistics/transport companies & 9 residential aged care facilities were selected;… Continue reading Workplace risk management practices to prevent musculoskeletal and mental health disorders: What are the gaps?
Interventions and measurements of highly reliable/resilient organization implementations: A literature review
This reviewed literature on High Reliability Organisations (HRO) and similar approaches in Resilience Engineering (RE) from 1981 to 2020 to determine its impact. 34 articles out of 1400 met inclusion. For background: · “There is a class of organizations that can do catastrophic harm to themselves and a larger public” and within this set, there’s… Continue reading Interventions and measurements of highly reliable/resilient organization implementations: A literature review
The science of human factors: separating fact from fiction
This brief read discussed some of the misconceptions about human factors for healthcare improvement. It’s open access, so you can read the paper yourself. They discuss where training interventions are likely to be appropriate vs not appropriate. More appropriate uses is: · To help familiarise people with new tools or functions, which should include strengths and… Continue reading The science of human factors: separating fact from fiction
