9 research outputs found
Developments in the Safety Science Domain and in Safety Management From the 1970s Till the 1979 Near Disaster at Three Mile Island
Objective: What has been the influence of general management schools and safety research into causes of accidents and disasters on managing safety from 1970 till 1979?
Method: The study was limited to original articles and documents, written in English or Dutch from the period under concern. For the Netherlands, the professional journal De Veiligheid (Safety) has been consulted.
Results and conclusions: Dominant management approaches started with 1) the classical management starting from the 19th century, with scientific management from the start of the 20st century as a main component. During the interwar period 2) behavioural management started, based on behaviourism, followed by 3) quantitative management from the Second World War onwards. After the war 4) modern management became important. A company was seen as an open system, interacting with an external environment with external stakeholders. These schools management were not exclusive, but have existed in the period together.
Early 20th century, the U.S. 'Safety First' movement was the starting point of this knowledge development on managing safety, with cost reduction and production efficiency as key drivers. Psychological models and metaphors explained accidents from âunsafe actsâ. And safety was managed with training and selection of reckless workers, all in line with scientific management. Supported by behavioural management, this approach remained dominant for many years, even long after World War II.
Influenced by quantitative management, potential and actual disasters after the war led to two approaches; loss prevention (up-scaling process industry) and reliability engineering (inherently dangerous processes in the aerospace and nuclear industries). The distinction between process safety and occupational safety became clear after the war, and the two developed into relatively independent domains.
In occupational safety in the 1970s human errors thought to be symptoms of mismanagement. The term âsafety managementâ was introduced in scientific safety literature as well as concepts as loose, and tightly coupled processes, organizational culture, incubation of a disaster and mechanisms blinding organizations for portents of disaster scenarios. Loss prevention remained technically oriented. Till 1979 there was no clear relation with safety management. Reliability engineering, based on systems theory did have that relation with the MORT technique as a management audit. The Netherlands mainly followed Anglo-Saxon developments. Late 1970s, following international safety symposia in The Hague and Delft, independent research started in The Netherland
Introduction of the concept of risk within safety science in The Netherlands focussing on the years 1970â1990
Serious incidents in the 1970s and continuous growth of factories producing and/or using hazardous substances
formed the basis of a quantitative approach to risk. While discussions of risk were conducted in
all industrialised countries they were particularly important in The Netherlands due to space limitations
and short distances between industrial plants and residential areas. This article is part of a series covering
the history of the safety science discipline (Swuste et al., 2015; Van Gulijk et al., 2009; Swuste et al.,
2010).
The concept risk entered the Dutch safety domain before the 1970s in relatively isolated case studies
and in managing flood defences in The Netherlands. Since the 1970s these case studies paved the way
for the development of mathematical models for quantitative risk analysis that were based on experience
from nuclear power plants, the process industries and reliability engineering from operations research.
âExternal safetyâ was a focal point for these early developments in the process industries: adverse effects
of dangerous goods outside the factoryâs property boundaries. The models were documented in standardised
textbooks for risk analysis in The Netherlands, the so-called âcoloured booksâ. These works contributed
to the development of the Seveso Directive. For internal safety (taking place within property
boundaries) semi-quantitative approaches were developed simultaneously.
The models for quantitative risk analysis were deemed reliable, but the acceptability of a quantified
risk was another matter. Making decisions on risk relates to complex societal issues, such as ethics, stakeholder
perception of risks, stakeholder involvement, and politics, all of which made the decision making
process far from straightforward. With the introduction of the abstract concept of risk in the Dutch safety
science domain, the question of risk perception became important in Dutch safety research.
The concept risk and methods for quantitative risk analysis first entered into Dutch law in environmental
risk regulations. It took a while for risk to be accepted by occupational safety experts, but just before
the turn of the century âoccupational risk inventory and evaluationsâ or RI&E methods were introduced
into Dutch occupational safety legislation. This finalised the paradigm shift to risk-based safetydecision
making in the Dutch safety science domain. While methods for quantifying risk are now widely
applied and accepted, the proper use of risk perception and risk in the political decision process are still
being debated
Occupational safety theories, models and metaphors in the three decades since World War II, in the United States, Britain and the Netherlands: A literature review
Objective
Which theories, models, and metaphors were developed in the period and countries under study, within what context, and if available based upon what collection of data.
Method
For the literature review, original articles were consulted, including volumes of the Dutch safety professional journal âDe Veiligheidâ (Safety).
Results and conclusions
One theory and three models on accident causation were developed in the domain of safety science. The focus on the causes of accidents and on their prevention was gradually changing from victim behavior, via task aspects to management causes.
Willem Winsemius, a Dutch physician, is the father of âtask dynamics theoryâ, explaining, predicting accidents from the reflex reactions and improvisations of workers during process disturbances. Based on a survey of 1300 accidents at the former Dutch steel works Hoogovens, his theory described human behavior as a response reaction, instead of an accident cause. British observational research conducted on more than 2000 accidents also highlighted the relationship between tasks, actions, process disturbances, and accidents. And William Haddon Jr., an American physician introduced the âepidemiological triangleâ, and the known âhazard â barrier â targetâ model. Finally, the ergonomics domain developed two models on disturbed information flows and inadequate decisions of workers.
The increased complexity in the military domain and the process industry, just after World War II initiated a movement to increase system reliability, leading to a number of safety techniques which were not based on systematic research, but were rather a coded collection of practical experiences.
The accident proneness theory still remained popular in the professional safety domain in the Netherlands
Developments in the safety science domain, in the fields of general and safety management between 1970 and 1979, the year of the near disaster on Three Mile Island, a literature review
Objective: What influence has research conducted by general management schools and safety research had
upon the causes of accidents and disasters in relation to the managing of safety between 1970 and 1979?
Method: The study was confined to original articles and documents, written in English or Dutch from the
period under consideration. For the Netherlands, the professional journal De Veiligheid (Safety) was consulted.
Results and conclusions: Dominant management approaches started with (1) classical management starting
from the 19th century incorporating as a main component scientific management from the early 20th century.
The interwar period saw the rise of (2) behavioural management which was based on behaviourism,
this was followed by (3) quantitative management from the Second World War onwards. After the war it
was (4) modern management that became important. A company was seen as an open system, interacting
with an external environment with external stakeholders. These management schools of thought were not
exclusive, but existed side by side in the period under consideration.
Early in the 20th century, it was the U.S. âSafety Firstâ movement that marked the starting point of this
knowledge development in the sphere of safety managing, with cost reduction and production efficiency
as the key drivers. Psychological models and metaphors were used to explain accidents resulting from
âunsafe actsâ. Safety was managed by training and targeting reckless workers, all in line with scientific
management. Supported by behavioural management, this approach remained dominant for many years
until long after World War II.
Influenced by quantitative management, potential and actual disasters occurring after the war led to two
approaches; loss prevention (up-scaling in the process industry) and reliability engineering (inherently
dangerous processes in the aerospace and nuclear sectors). The distinction between process safety and
occupational safety became clear after the war when the two evolved as relatively independent domains.
In occupational safety in the 1970s human error was thought to be symptomatic of mismanagement. The
term âsafety managementâ was introduced to scientific safety literature alongside concepts such as loosely
and tightly coupled processes, organizational culture, disaster incubation and the notion of mechanisms
blinding organizations to portents of disaster scenarios. Loss prevention remained technically oriented.
Until 1979 there was no clear link with safety management. Reliability engineering that was based on systems
theory did have such a connection with the MORT technique that served as a management audit. The
Netherlands mainly followed Anglo-Saxon developments. In the late 1970s, following international safety
symposia in The Hague and Delft, independent research finally began in the Netherlands