This study, among a few other things, compared 633 incidents against >9 inspection reports with similar contexts to understand the overlap. Data was from a Canadian construction project over 3 years. E.g. They used multi-methods, including natural language processing, text mining, bow ties and more to evaluate if field inspections are looking at the same… Continue reading Visualizing what’s missing: Using deep learning and Bow-Tie diagrams to identify and visualize missing leading indicators in industrial construction
Control charts for accident frequency: a motivation for real-time occupational safety monitoring
This paper compares real-time or active monitoring of safety incidents via cumulative sum (CUSUM) control charts. It’s an interesting read, and if you’re not savvy with control charts or statistics then just skip over the technical stuff. Some of the findings are still pretty relevant. In saying that, I’ve skipped most of the dense statistical… Continue reading Control charts for accident frequency: a motivation for real-time occupational safety monitoring
Compendium of Nancy Leveson: STAMP, STPA, CAST and Systems Thinking
Although I don’t often mention or post about Leveson’s work, she’s probably been the most influential thinker on my approach after Barry Turner. So here is a mini-compendium covering some of Leveson’s work. Feel free to shout a coffee if you’d like to support the growth of my site: https://direct.mit.edu/books/oa-monograph/2908/Engineering-a-Safer-WorldSystems-Thinking-Applied https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840608101478 https://doi.org/10.1145/7474.7528 http://therm.ward.bay.wiki.org/assets/pages/documents-archived/safety-3.pdf http://sunnyday.mit.edu/papers/Rasmussen-Legacy.pdf https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00140139.2015.1015623… Continue reading Compendium of Nancy Leveson: STAMP, STPA, CAST and Systems Thinking
Failing to learn and learning to fail (intelligently): How great organizations put failure to work to innovate and improve
An interesting paper from Mark Cannon & Amy Edmondson about failing intelligently. Opening the paper they argue that while the idea of organisations learning from their failures is obvious – “yet organizations that systematically learn from failure are rare”. They’ve also found that few organisations effectively experiment to learn, which requires by necessity generating failures… Continue reading Failing to learn and learning to fail (intelligently): How great organizations put failure to work to innovate and improve
“there is no such thing as a root cause [and therefore] there is technically no such thing as the beginning of a mishap” — Dekker
Extracts from Dekker’s work about the ontological and empirical shakiness of ‘root causes’. I’ve taken material from two versions of The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error (Investigations). In Dekker’s view: · “There is no ‘root’ cause” (or ‘root causes’) · Given the multiple angles and interactions in complex systems, you “can really construct “causes” from everywhere”… Continue reading “there is no such thing as a root cause [and therefore] there is technically no such thing as the beginning of a mishap” — Dekker
Workplace Psychosocial Factors and Their Association With Musculoskeletal Disorders
More data on the links between workplace psychosocial factors and injury – this time specifically on musculoskeletal disorders (MSD). 47 studies met inclusion. Findings: · The most common MSDs investigated were lower back pain, neck and shoulder pain, and upper extremity symptoms and disorders · Workplace psychosocial factors that were statistically significant were support, collaboration, job control,… Continue reading Workplace Psychosocial Factors and Their Association With Musculoskeletal Disorders
Failing audits and ‘comprehensively shallow’ evaluations of system performance
Do (some) audits focus too greatly on paperwork? Or is the paperwork focus a strength of audits? In our previous paper, we reviewed 44 major accident reports to assess the accident inquiries’ descriptions of pre-accident audit performance. We argued that: “many audits exhibited a ‘comprehensive shallowness,’ delving excessively into minor system details and paperwork rather… Continue reading Failing audits and ‘comprehensively shallow’ evaluations of system performance
Work injuries and mental health challenges: A meta-analysis of the bidirectional relationship
This meta-analysis investigated the relationship between work injuries and mental health challenges. 139 studies included. Background: · Mental health challenge is defined as prolonged deviations from the state of an individual’s psychological well-being · “These deviations manifest as noticeable shifts in cognition, emotion, or behavior resulting in psychological distress” · “various studies have documented that work injuries are… Continue reading Work injuries and mental health challenges: A meta-analysis of the bidirectional relationship
Night shift work and indicators of cardiovascular risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis
This may interest people – a meta-analysis and systematic review of the effects night shift work has on markers of cardiovascular risk. Not a summary – you can read the full open access paper. 81 studies met inclusion criteria – 14 cohort and 67 cross-sectional. Findings: · “Night shift work is associated with increased inflammation · “HDL-C… Continue reading Night shift work and indicators of cardiovascular risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Co-exposures to physical and psychosocial work factors increase the occurrence of workplace injuries among French care workers
Psychosocial and physical workplace exposures found to be co-related in workplace injury (WI), according to this study. It’s one of heaps of studies highlighting the interactions between psychosocial factors and physical and psychological injury. E.g. Physical exposures were on their own were not great predictors of self-declared injury, and it was the interactions that best… Continue reading Co-exposures to physical and psychosocial work factors increase the occurrence of workplace injuries among French care workers
SafetyInsights.org 