SafetyInsights.org

Drawing on a grounded theory approach and a mental model focus, this explored why electricians work on energised apparatus. 60 electricians provided in-depth interviews. Results Data indicated that electrical work is cognitively demanding and working energised is not a simple yes/no choice, but rather strongly influenced by a range of factors. Including: the belief that… Continue reading Using grounded theory and mental modeling to understand influences on electricians’ safety decisions: Toward an integrated theory of why electricians work energized

These two studies explored the links between working in construction and exposure to construction dusts on respiratory cancer and COPD. The first study from Wang et al. looked at data from >25k US workers and including >5k deaths. After adjusting for smoking and demographics, construction workers were nearly twice as likely to die from respiratory… Continue reading Construction dust, silica, asbestos etc. and risk of respiratory cancer and COPD

This study examined the influence of an improvement program based on Management-By-Walking-Around (MBWA), where senior managers observe frontline employees, solicit ideas about improvements, and work with staff to resolve the issues. 19 hospitals in the US were randomly selected for the 18-month intervention, compared against 68 control hospitals not utilising the intervention. Providing background: Results… Continue reading The Effectiveness of Management-By-Walking-Around: A Randomized Field Study

This study explored the rates of suicide among male mining workers compared to those of three comparison groups: construction workers, mining and construction (combined), and all other workers. Providing background: ·        In 2019, 3,318 Australians died by suicide; 79% of those were of working age. This rate of about 80% has remained stable for the past… Continue reading Suicide in the Australian Mining Industry: Assessment of Rates among Male Workers Using 19 Years of Coronial Data

Just summarised a 2019 paper that explored the role of three biases on pilots’ subsequent judgements on encountering adverse weather conditions: 1) outcome bias, 2) availability bias and 3) hindsight bias. Summary posted in the coming week or two, but to the complete lack of surprise to, I think, everybody, they found evidence that both… Continue reading Pilot decision making and the effects of outcome bias, availability bias and hindsight bias

I’ve just summarised another paper exploring the impact of a manager walkaround program (not the attached image). You know the types – senior managers take to the floor to observe work, talk with workers, and discuss potential improvements. Interestingly, this paper found that the walkaround programs (compared to controls without the intervention), led to a… Continue reading Management safety walkarounds and worsening performance

This surveyed 108 Swedish investigators (funnily enough) about accident investigation practices and investigator beliefs. Investigators were from a range of industries. There’s a lot of findings, so I won’t cover all of them. Results Investigators detailed the time spent on different stages of an investigation. These were approximately planning at 8%, data collection at 30%,… Continue reading The context and habits of accident investigation practices: A study of 108 Swedish investigators

When is a near miss not a clear sign of potential harm that was narrowly avoided? Interestingly, work from Dillon and Tinsley et al. have explored this question across several studies (See attached image and links below to several of their papers). They highlight across many studies that people can interpret near events as either… Continue reading Influence of outcome biases & near miss biases on risk decisions

This paper explored the paradox of how people who have previously endured an emotionally distressing event may be less compassionate to other people who are also struggling with a similar distressing event. In short, it’s argued that this paradoxical effect results, in part, from how the prior experience of the distressing event leads to a… Continue reading Having “Been There” Doesn’t Mean I Care: When Prior Experience Reduces Compassion for Emotional Distress

This earlier paper investigated how counterfactual thinking influences subsequent judgements of accidents and the role of people. Participants were given scenarios and were asked to judge the causality of an event and then develop some remedies to prevent a repeat of the event. The participants were asked to use if-only counterfactuals to determine the remedies.… Continue reading Choosing remedies after accidents: Counterfactual thoughts and the focus on fixing “human error”