Does the language we use in investigations shape allocations of blame? Quite possibly. Today’s study is from Vesel, C. (2020). Agentive language in accident investigation: Why language matters in learning from events. ACS Chemical Health & Safety, 27(1), 34-39. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3PfEq7a3Bsq6zq48TDYMDe?si=AyiJO2O4Rbe-NmjbV5ot9w Apple: https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/j6EE8d95bWb Make sure to subscribe to Safe As on Spotify/Apple, and if you find it… Continue reading Safe As 28: How language shapes blame in investigations
Tag: investigations
Safe AF #7: Limits of investigations and blindness to control effectiveness
Are our investigations blinded to the functioning and effectiveness of risk controls? Are our current approaches, and mental models about how safety events occur, defined less by what they unpack and more by what they leave in the dark? This study unpacks these questions, and evaluates how accident investigators consider, or not, the functioning of… Continue reading Safe AF #7: Limits of investigations and blindness to control effectiveness
Stop rules in investigations
I recorded a new ep on my podcast Safe AF, looking at factors which influence what investigations find, or more precisely, ‘construct’ as causal, and the factors which influence what gets fixed. One set of factors are ‘stop rules. So, here are some examples of different authors discussing investigation stop rules. Not systematic, and no… Continue reading Stop rules in investigations
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
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