SafetyInsights.org

This full open access paper may interest you – it evaluated the literature to canvass how learning is conceptualized in the Resilience Engineering (RE) research. They found that theoretical conceptualisations of organizational learning from resilient performance are under-developed, and fragmented. RE researchers have thus far conceptualised the process of learning as “understanding the system, sharing… Continue reading Conceptualising learning from resilient performance: A scoping literature review

What’s the association between a culture of openness among staff and subsequent patient mortality? An interesting study to be posted soon explored this relationship. Thanks to sidneydekker.com for flagging this paper during the recent Global Safety Innovation Summit 2024. Openness represents an “environment in which communication among patients, staff members, and managers is open and… Continue reading Higher staff openness scores linked to lower patient mortality in English hospitals

This studied the impact of ethical leadership on safety & task performance under the effects of two safety-critical factors: 1) perceived accident likelihood, 2) perceived hazard exposure. Ethical leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication,… Continue reading Examining the impact of ethical leadership on safety and task performance: a safety-critical context

This open access paper explored the relationships between power distance and leader inclusiveness on psychological safety, and resident willingness to report adverse events. Sample was 106 residents in a US teaching hospital. Key findings: ·      Perceived power distance and leader inclusiveness both significantly predicted psychological safety ·      This in turn significantly predicted intention to report adverse events… Continue reading The effects of power, leadership and psychological safety on resident event reporting

This chapter explores an organisational “imagined disease”, termed by the author as “auditism” [** I love this term]. I’ll be using a lot of direct quotes. I haven’t done a good job of this, so recommend you check out the chapter. It’s noted that we’re surrounded by auditism and have been convinced that what we… Continue reading Auditism: Symptoms, Safety Consequences, Causes, and Cure

This study explored how psychological safety (PS) affects near-miss reporting and learning in radiation oncology. They note that near misses contain contrasting cues highlighting both resilience and vulnerability. Based on prior work from Dillon, Tinsley et al., they note that a near miss may have cues of resilience (“we avoided failure”) and vulnerability (“we nearly… Continue reading Resilience vs. Vulnerability: Psychological Safety and Reporting of Near Misses with Varying Proximity to Harm in Radiation Oncology

Another absolute banger of a paper co-authored by one of my favourite authors – the late, great Bob Wears. As is often the case with Bob and co’s papers, these brief 3-4 pagers are the most densely packed and most difficult to summarise. I’m using a lot of direct quotes because the language is poetic,… Continue reading Replacing Hindsight With Insight: Toward Better Understanding of Diagnostic Failures

What impact does a comprehensive Crew Resource Management (CRM) training program, and subsequent practices, have on in-hospital patient mortality and failure to rescue? Not a lot, according to another upcoming study. Two hospitals, one control and one intervention, were compared after 3 years. The CRM program in the intervention hospital consisted of a 4-hr comprehensive… Continue reading Crew Resource Management training and patient mortality: no significant effects

An upcoming summary explores an organisational “imagined disease”, termed by the author as “auditism” [** I love this term]. It’s noted that we’re surrounded by auditism, and have been convinced that what we do at work must be documented, to “prove that we did what we should have done”. Auditism is said to emerge “when… Continue reading Organisational disease: auditism. A condition where ill-fitting management systems and practices are propagated

This studied the impact various management strategies to boost labour productivity have on safety. Strategies were human resource (HR) and construction management (CM) related and included a large number of strategies (48 practices; shown below).  Survey data was collected from 111 general construction projects. The importance of this is that construction is not just one… Continue reading Unintended consequences of management strategies for improving labor productivity in construction industry