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Prerequisites for learning from accident investigations - A cross-country comparison of national accident investigation boards

Cedergren, Alexander LU and Petersen, Kurt LU (2011) In Safety Science 49(8-9). p.1238-1245
Abstract
In this paper railway accident investigation reports issued by the national accident investigation boards in three Scandinavian countries during a 2-year period have been systematically studied. Content analysis of attributed causes in these reports reveals a considerable emphasis on physical processes, actor activities and equipment (the microlevel). Much less attention is paid to organisational factors (the mesolevel) and conditions related to regulators, associations and government (the macrolevel). This means that lessons will primarily be learned about aspects at the lower of these levels. Interviews show that the factors emphasised in investigation reports typically reflect the competences and experiences of the investigators, i.e.... (More)
In this paper railway accident investigation reports issued by the national accident investigation boards in three Scandinavian countries during a 2-year period have been systematically studied. Content analysis of attributed causes in these reports reveals a considerable emphasis on physical processes, actor activities and equipment (the microlevel). Much less attention is paid to organisational factors (the mesolevel) and conditions related to regulators, associations and government (the macrolevel). This means that lessons will primarily be learned about aspects at the lower of these levels. Interviews show that the factors emphasised in investigation reports typically reflect the competences and experiences of the investigators, i.e. they are inclined to focus on areas of their own expertise. Since failures at the microlevel in many cases merely are symptoms of trouble at higher levels, it is argued that competence among investigators that supplements entirely technical or operational backgrounds are necessary for enabling deeper understanding of the factors leading to accidents. One possible way for achieving this is the creation of multi-modal investigation boards that provide a number of potential advantages, such as increased access to specialist competences that are shared between different sectors. Although a multi-modal approach to some degree has been adopted in all three countries, interviews reveal that these positive effects do not emerge automatically. It can therefore be concluded that multi-modal investigation boards offer a number of possible advantages, but only when these synergies are fully exploited can they provide a potential for more effective learning from accidents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Accident investigations, Investigation boards, Learning, Multi-modal, Railway
in
Safety Science
volume
49
issue
8-9
pages
1238 - 1245
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000292898000019
  • scopus:79958135339
ISSN
0925-7535
DOI
10.1016/j.ssci.2011.04.005
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f477366b-755c-499e-94c2-559914b8a629 (old id 2072590)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:40:18
date last changed
2022-04-14 19:07:00
@article{f477366b-755c-499e-94c2-559914b8a629,
  abstract     = {{In this paper railway accident investigation reports issued by the national accident investigation boards in three Scandinavian countries during a 2-year period have been systematically studied. Content analysis of attributed causes in these reports reveals a considerable emphasis on physical processes, actor activities and equipment (the microlevel). Much less attention is paid to organisational factors (the mesolevel) and conditions related to regulators, associations and government (the macrolevel). This means that lessons will primarily be learned about aspects at the lower of these levels. Interviews show that the factors emphasised in investigation reports typically reflect the competences and experiences of the investigators, i.e. they are inclined to focus on areas of their own expertise. Since failures at the microlevel in many cases merely are symptoms of trouble at higher levels, it is argued that competence among investigators that supplements entirely technical or operational backgrounds are necessary for enabling deeper understanding of the factors leading to accidents. One possible way for achieving this is the creation of multi-modal investigation boards that provide a number of potential advantages, such as increased access to specialist competences that are shared between different sectors. Although a multi-modal approach to some degree has been adopted in all three countries, interviews reveal that these positive effects do not emerge automatically. It can therefore be concluded that multi-modal investigation boards offer a number of possible advantages, but only when these synergies are fully exploited can they provide a potential for more effective learning from accidents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.}},
  author       = {{Cedergren, Alexander and Petersen, Kurt}},
  issn         = {{0925-7535}},
  keywords     = {{Accident investigations; Investigation boards; Learning; Multi-modal; Railway}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{8-9}},
  pages        = {{1238--1245}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Safety Science}},
  title        = {{Prerequisites for learning from accident investigations - A cross-country comparison of national accident investigation boards}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4102142/4392752.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ssci.2011.04.005}},
  volume       = {{49}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}