Critical Analysis of the Queensland Metalliferous Mines Fatal Accident Record

An interesting 2017 thesis from Les Meintjes analysing fatalities in Queensland Metalliferous Mines from 1879 to 2016, with a focus on the latter period’s fatalities. This was meant to be a mini-post but grew into an article. [P.S. Yes I know about the Brady review. Check my site as I’ve covered it] Key findings- Safety…

The role of the safety climate in the successful implementation of safety management systems

This study explored the interaction of safety management system elements and safety climate on safety in the construction sector. 349 Singapore construction companies were included in the sample. Providing background: Their analytical model is shown below: Results Overall, they found that “the interaction of safety incentives, subcontractors’ involvement, and safety accountability with SMS have positive…

Investigation recommendations and the hierarchy of control

Have national focuses on the hierarchy of control and prevention through design influenced investigation findings over time? A 2014 paper from Michael Behm and Demetria Powell explored this question. Comparing 249 investigation reports prior to 2006 and from 2008 to 2014: 1)     Incident causes categorised as either latent or active failures have not statistically changed over…

Leadership walkarounds and performance improvement

Do Leadership Walkarounds (LWs) positively impact operational, cultural and clinical outcomes? Another systematic review (in healthcare, again) suggests ‘Yes’. 12 healthcare studies met inclusion criteria. First, they noted based on prior evidence: ·        A prior lit review found that LWs were generally effective in informing leaders on safety issues that impacted front-line staff and patients ·        LWs…

A study of experience feedback from reported unwanted occurrences in a construction company

This explored via interviews with 33 employees their experiences with using an incident reporting system (RUO; reports of unwanted occurrences) and the barriers to reporting incidents. Previous research was first covered in the paper. Issues of trust and blame inhibit reporting, as is also related to solidarity between colleagues. Other factors include unclear reporting guidelines,…

The evolution of safety science

Not much to add here – images 1 and 2 are excerpts from one of Dekker’s papers that I found interesting; and an image on different figurative ‘ages’ of safety evolution from Pillay et al. Note: You probably shouldn’t take image 1 too literally, but it serves more as a general indication of how science…

Exploring the “Black Box” of Recommendation Generation in Local Health Care Incident Investigations: A Scoping Review

Another healthcare study that explored what incident investigation approaches are used to generate recommendations, how recommendations are generated, what types of recommendations are generated and how the quality is assessed. 11 studies met inclusion criteria for review. Providing background: Results Overall, this study found that: 2. As seen below, training and education was the most…

Coroner blasts overuse of JSAs, unknown safety processes, and fantasy fatigue management

This coroner’s report detailed the death of a man during hydroblasting of a tank, where he fell through an open and unprotected hatch. There’s quite a few more extracts from this report included here, but it’s worth the read. Regarding fatigue and working hours, the coroner observed that: More generally, the coroner was critical of…

Safety Artifacts in Oil and Gas Industry: An Analysis of Permit-To-Work Process

An interesting conference paper that explored how a permit-to-work process operated in practice in the oil & gas industry. They drew on the distinction between WAI (work as imagined) and WAD (work as done), and also my own concept of artefacts acting as enabling devices (from my first Safety Science publication). The study observed a…

Safety Management System elements account for ~30% of construction safety performance

What percentage of safety performance is explained by the elements of an SMS? New study to be posted soon finds ~30% of performance explained by SMSs. Data from 359 Singaporean construction companies was evaluated to explain the determinants of safety performance, and particularly the interaction of safety climate and SMSs. Overall they found that: ·       An SMS…