Managing risks to drivers in road transport

This report presents a number of case studies in managing risks to road transport drivers. The cases feature a variety of initiatives and interventions to protect drivers.In the road transport sector, as with any other, it is important to pay attention to working conditions in order to ensure a skilled and motivated workforce. Certain characteristics of the sector make it more difficult to practice risk management than in other sectors. But by taking account of how the sector operates in practice, and the characteristics of drivers themselves and the way they work, risks can be successfully manage

Accident investigation and analysis

Many organisations and companies take extensive proactive measures to identify, evaluate and reduce occupational risks. However, despite these efforts things still go wrong and unintended events occur. After a major incident or accident, conducting an accident investigation is generally the next step. A thorough accident or incident investigation may uncover a wealth of knowledge about safety management practices in the organisation. Previously overlooked weaknesses of safety management or safety culture may be uncovered, as well as underestimated risks, unknown risks or insufficient control over known risks. Government agencies may or may not be involved in the investigation and analysis of events. In many countries inspectorates, accident research boards, or criminal prosecutors may investigate some or all of the serious occupational incidents that occur. In this article we focus only on incident investigation conducted (internally) by companies themselves. This article contains an overview of steps in incident investigation and some methods for analysis

Learning from incidents and accidents

There are many different definitions for what constitutes an incident or an accident, however the focus is always on unintended and often unforeseen events that cause unintended consequences. This article is focused on the process of learning from incidents and accidents. The focus is on making sure that the lessons learned from incident investigations are implemented and lead to an actual improvement in safety. For this article we will use the terms incident for accidents, near misses and other unwanted events

Beter leren van incidenten: case studies naar factoren die het leerproces beïnvloeden

Leren van incidenten is voor veel organisatie een belangrijk onderwerp. Wanneer organisaties lessen trekken uit ervaringen en de lessen gebruiken om te verbeteren kunnen negatieve gebeurtenissen- zoals ongevallen - worden voorkomen. Dit artikel beschrijft dat organisaties beter en efficiënter kunnen leren, door de omgevingsfactoren die de leerprocessen beïnvloeden in kaart te brengen en aan te pakken. Met behulp van vier case studies worden de factoren die het leren beïnvloeden verkend, resulterend in vijf categorieën van factoren: mensen, communicatie, informatie, organisatorische aspecten (cultuur) en formele voorwaarden. Om de factoren te structureren is een model van het leerproces gebruikt, bestaande uit vijf fasen

Learning from events: a process approach

Many organizations try to prevent reoccurrence of incidents by analyzing incidents and implement recommendations based in their findings. Unfortunately this approach is not without pitfalls. Between 'reporting' and 'evaluation of the effect of actions' there are several hurdles to be taken. Only by looking at all the steps in the process organizations can 'learn from incidents'. This contrasts with the traditional view that success can be achieved by looking at a limited number of factors, e.g. 'the tool' itself. Furthermore, organizations mistakenly believe that by formally zorganizing each of the steps they take away the hurdles. A checklist was generated aimed at the identification of the hurdles in the learning from incident process. Several hundred safety professionals in the Netherlands and employees in a tank storage company were asked to identify the so called 'bottle-necks' in their own organization and describe if each of the steps has been formally organized and how it worked in practice. Interviews with focus groups were held to identify causes of the hurdles. The learning potential from accidents is reduced, many of the steps in the learning from incidents process have flaws. This cannot be improved by taking one weak link out, only an approach that takes all steps into account can significantly im-prove the learning potential of organizations. Furthermore, the level of formal organizations has little predictive value for the 'real situation'. Learning from incidents is of key importance for organizations to prevent their reoccurrence. This paper will describe the 'learning from incident process', will describe the main hurdles and their causes and will help organizations under-stand why 'Its not the tool' and why formal organization is not sufficient to guarantee success

Leren van incidenten. Knelpunten bij drie bedrijven

De cultuur, structuur en kennisdeling binnen een organisatie vormen randvoorwaarden of condities voor het proces van Leren van incidenten. Analysekader helpt knelpunten te identificeren