SafetyInsights.org

[Note: this is an update and repost of a really old summary which had a different format back then.] ABSTRACT Smaller severity more frequent accidents can provide information about the direct and underlying causes of bigger severity more catastrophic accidents but only if looking within the same hazard category. Use is made of a database… Continue reading Exploring the relationship between major hazard, fatal and non-fatal accidents through outcomes and causes

This qualitative study used a mixed-method approach to understand how a major accident in a Brazilian oil refinery incubated. It’s argued that many accident investigations still result in blame and superficial explanations without exploring deeper issues. Analysis of the accident and further one-on-one and group interviews, participant observations, document reviews and work analyses were undertaken.… Continue reading Challenging the immediate causes: A work accident investigation in an oil refinery using organizational analysis

This looked at whether safety climate (SC) surveys can assess the risk of major accidents at the plant level. Using data from the Norwegian offshore oil and gas operations they tested whether three major close call incidents (occurring between 2001 and 2013) could have been detected using the biannual SC data from the period before… Continue reading Safety climate as an indicator for major accident risk: Can we use safety climate as an indicator on the plant level

Abstract Considerable attention has been paid to safety culture since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power station accident. Researchers have studied it and companies and regulators have applied it to enhance safety. However, few research studies have been conducted that establish a link between safety culture and operational or process safety and methods used to assess… Continue reading Can we examine safety culture in accident investigations, or should we?

This study analysed 100 serious or high potential construction ICAM accident investigation reports from five Australian construction organisations to see the extent to which they aligned with systems thinking principles. It’s argued that construction can be described as being a complex sociotechnical system, influenced by fast pace of technological change and the impact of economic… Continue reading Moving beyond the organizational ceiling: Do construction accident investigations align with systems thinking

This was pretty interesting and has important implications. The authors explored whether they could bias the responses of OHS regulatory inspectors prior to the inspectors trying to observe hazards in a case study work site. The authors used contextual but task-irrelevant background information to bias the inspectors’ judgements. It was completed in two studies, which… Continue reading The effect of contextual information on professional judgment – Reliability and biasability of expert workplace safety inspectors

Abstract: We examined the effects of psychosocial stressors at work on subsequent injuries, taking into account organizational and mechanical working conditions. METHODS: Randomly drawn from the general population, the cohort comprised respondents with an active employee relationship in 2006 and 2009 (n = 6,745). Outcome measure: “Have you, over the past 12 months, afflicted injuries that were… Continue reading Psychosocial Factors at Work and Occupational Injuries: A Prospective Study of the General Working Population in Norway

Interesting paper that’s a bit different than usual. This one from Central Queensland University looks at the issue of misquoting/misrepresenting in human factors research, using Diane Vaughan’s Challenger Launch Decision book and Normalization of Deviance (NOD) concept as the study control. Of 187 extracts from 118 articles referring to Vaughan’s book/concept, 24 of them (12.8%)… Continue reading Normalization of Deviation: Quotation Error in Human Factors

Part 2/2 This is the second post relating to the same paper as yesterday. The below image summarises responses from the subbies on how they learned safety in their trade (discussed yesterday). See part 1 here. Following on from the findings in the first post, the author then went on to deconstruct some of the… Continue reading Safety Culture Among Subcontractors in The Domestic Housing Construction Industry (P2/2)

P1/2 This was a very interesting ethnography of the cultures, norms, values, beliefs and practices within the domestic housing industry in Australia. Ethnographic data was gathered from 150 subcontractors (subbies). There’s way too much in this to cover so I can only provide a surface summary. I’ve divided the summary into two posts. N.B. This… Continue reading Safety Culture Among Subcontractors in The Domestic Housing Construction Industry (P1/2)