SafetyInsights.org

This systematic review evaluated Job Safety Analysis (JSA) research to answer the following: (1)    Which sectors and areas have used JSA? (2)    What has been the aim of employing JSA? (3)    What are the shortcomings of JSA? (4)    What are the new advances in the field of JSA? Providing background: ·       While different definitions, goals… Continue reading Applications, Shortcomings, and New Advances of Job Safety Analysis (JSA): Findings from a Systematic Review

This study analysed 75 investigation reports from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB). The authors coded the reports based on attributed causal/contributory factors and the types of corrective actions assigned. Providing background: In this study, they grouped the accident factors into errors…for some reason. Of course, these types of categories depend on… Continue reading An analysis of major accident in the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) Database

An upcoming summary is a paper that evaluated the role of resilience engineering principles in managing safety in building repair and maintenance. Multiple definitions of resilience exist, as do resilient capacities. However, a common thread is the ability to make adjustments under varying conditions. These adjustments are described as: 1) reactive, where adjustments are needed… Continue reading Resilience Engineering in building repair and maintenance

What are the applications and shortcomings of JSAs across industry? An upcoming summary reviewed the literature to explore these questions. Unexpectedly, JSAs being “tedious and time-consuming to perform was the most frequent drawback mentioned by studies”. Other expected shortcomings: ·        Lack of a universally accepted risk assessment framework to accompany JSAs ·        Lack of worker participation in… Continue reading Shortcomings of JSAs

This may interest my network. Nektarios Karanikas and Haroun Zerguine argue that new safety paradigms, HOP, S-II, SD etc.: • do not focus exclusively on safety. • do not consider dynamic and diverse organisational contexts. • can contribute to safety but are not inclusive and sufficient to ensure it. • deserve consideration provided their limitations are acknowledged. Link:… Continue reading Are the new view safety approaches sufficient to ensure safety? So asks a critical commentary

How effective are warnings? So explores a meta-analysis of 30 studies. Warnings include hazard labels, signs, safety data sheets, medication and more. A few key findings: ·      Recall of a warning’s content was significantly facilitated by its level of sensory conspicuity (e.g. how visible, like with red or yellow boundaries) ·      Presence of descriptive words and pictures,… Continue reading How effective are safety warnings? A meta-analysis of 30 studies

This paper explored the application of micro-experiments with a rule management framework in order to close gaps between work-as-imagined (WAI) and work-as-done (WAD). The approach was applied to several examples where a gap was evident in an operational squadron within the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Note: There’s way too much to cover in this paper… Continue reading Reducing gaps between paper and practice requires more than a technical alignment

Does the hierarchical nature of organisations, such as in medicine, inhibit speaking up and voice behaviour from those lower in the hierarchy? A systematic review in healthcare suggests yes. A 2020 study evaluated 19 papers for the links between hierarchy and voice behaviour in response to human performance variability (e.g. medical errors and the like).… Continue reading Hierarchy and medical error: Speaking up when witnessing an error

This paper evaluated whether investigations findings and corrective actions were influenced over time by a national focus on Prevention Through Design (PTD) and the Hierarchy of Control (HoC). That is, they’re comparing investigations prior to and following a particular time point (2007) for differences in what causes are attributed (e.g. active or latent failure types)… Continue reading SH&E Problem Solving: Are Higher-Order Controls Ignored?

An upcoming summary analysed 75 investigation reports from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), exploring the attributed causal/contributory factors and the types of corrective actions implemented. In this study, they grouped the accident factors into errors…for some reason. Of course, these types of categories depend on worldview, definitions etc, and can be… Continue reading Process accidents and the use of weaker corrective actions and improvements