Analysis method for revealing human and organisational factors of occupational accidents with movement disturbance (OAMDs).

Slips, trips and other movement disturbances account for 20 to 30% of recorded occupational accidents (OAs). The causal representations of these accidents hamper their prevention. An analysis method dedicated to occupational accidents with movement disturbance (OAMDs) has been developed to change these representations. In France, the causal tree method (CTM) is very commonly used for analysing OAs. An initial version of an OAMD analysis method, which overcomes the problems encountered when analysing these accidents using the CTM, has been developed. This OAMD analysis method was reviewed by six targeted prevention officers and as a result some proposals have been discarded and this initial version has been transformed into three additional CTM modules. The purpose of these modules is to identify human and organisational factors and provide a formal representation of damage caused, beyond bodily injuries. Practitioner summary: A method for analysing occupational accidents triggered by a slip, a trip or any other movement disturbance has been developed in consideration of the practices and constraints in companies. In particular, this method allows us to highlight the human and organisational factors involved in the accident situation. Abbreviations: OA: occupational accident; OAMD: occupational accident with movement disturbance; CTM: causal tree method.

Correlates of team effectiveness: An exploratory study of firefighter's operations during emergency situations.

This paper examines elements contributing to the effectiveness of firefighting teams carrying out typical tasks. Fourteen firefighter crews were filmed during nineteen real operations and answered questionnaires relating to psychosocial dimensions. Results have shown that "enriched closed-loops" of communication, positive emotional interactions and a "gamma" type of adaptation are positively related to team effectiveness. Conversely, open and incomplete loops of communication, negative emotional interactions, "beta" and "alpha" types of adaptation are negatively related to team effectiveness. Furthermore, there is a mediated link between organisational trust and motivation on the one hand and team effectiveness on the other. These findings highlight the necessity to consider both cognitive and psychosocial variables to account for team effectiveness in the firefighting profession. They also emphasize the need to expand firefighter training to the "non-technical" aspects of the competence.

Human and organisational factors in maritime accidents: analysis of collisions at sea using the HFACS.

Over the last decade, the shipping industry has implemented a number of measures aimed at improving its safety level (such as new regulations or new forms of team training). Despite this evolution, shipping accidents, and particularly collisions, remain a major concern. This paper presents a modified version of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System, which has been adapted to the maritime context and used to analyse human and organisational factors in collisions reported by the Marine Accident and Investigation Branch (UK) and the Transportation Safety Board (Canada). The analysis shows that most collisions are due to decision errors. At the precondition level, it highlights the importance of the following factors: poor visibility and misuse of instruments (environmental factors), loss of situation awareness or deficit of attention (conditions of operators), deficits in inter-ship communications or Bridge Resource Management (personnel factors). At the leadership level, the analysis reveals the frequent planning of inappropriate operations and non-compliance with the Safety Management System (SMS). The Multiple Accident Analysis provides an important finding concerning three classes of accidents. Inter-ship communications problems and Bridge Resource Management deficiencies are closely linked to collisions occurring in restricted waters and involving pilot-carrying vessels. Another class of collisions is associated with situations of poor visibility, in open sea, and shows deficiencies at every level of the socio-technical system (technical environment, condition of operators, leadership level, and organisational level). The third class is characterised by non-compliance with the SMS. This study shows the importance of Bridge Resource Management for situations of navigation with a pilot on board in restricted waters. It also points out the necessity to investigate, for situations of navigation in open sea, the masters' decisions in critical conditions as well as the causes of non-compliance with SMS.

Articulating the differences between safety and resilience: the decision-making process of professional sea-fishing skippers.

OBJECTIVE: As the world's most dangerous profession, sea fishing enables discussion of the concept of resilience and its articulation to the notion of safety in complex systems. BACKGROUND: In the small, emerging community working on this concept, the prevailing idea to improve safety is that resilience must be reinjected into the know-how of complex systems. METHOD: Thirty-four male skippers, divided into two groups, took part in an interactive simulation of a fishing campaign. They had to make decisions in situations of trade-off between safety and production goals. RESULTS: From the time they left the harbor, the fishermen never gave up on fishing, even in extreme conditions, and regardless of whether or not the catch was good. Not being suicidal, however, they used multiple expert strategies to reduce risk without giving up on their fishing activity. CONCLUSION: Systems run by craftspeople are very resilient because they rely on a high level of adaptability, based on the actors' expertise, linked to an exposure to frequent and considerable risk. Each actor is responsible for his or her own safety. The final discussion bears on the question of knowing whether or not it is possible to design a safe system while preserving its craftsmanship and therefore its native resilience. APPLICATION: The results of these studies suggest potential adverse effects of classic safety interventions in complex sociotechnical systems either in terms of professional reluctance to accept new recommendations or through the emergence of new sources of risk.