This report details a programme of research undertaken on behalf of IOSH
and intended to investigate the critical factors which control the effectiveness
of checklist-based risk assessments. Through five research phases, partner
companies from UK manufacturing industries provided case examples of
current practice and a resource of participants to conduct user trials.
An extensive literature review revealed that previous research had focussed
on the effectiveness and reliability of checklists in risk assessment. However,
very little research had been conducted in assessing the effectiveness of the
actual design of checklists and the level of accompanying training that is
required to ensure they are used correctly.
A questionnaire survey of 88 companies of more than five employees revealed
the state of current practice and a wide diversity of resources and application
of safety practices. From these companies 15 were selected to undertake an
in-depth walk through involving a site inspection, interviews with Health and
Safety professionals and an audit of the health and safety practices.
From the audited companies four were selected to take part in user trials
involving the provision and evaluation of control checklists and accompanying
training. This provided a large data set which could be scrutinised to identify
the effective features of checklists and the benefits training may offer.
The results reveal a complex picture with numerous confounding influences.
Specific features of checklists and training offer benefits in some
circumstances and limitations in others. A lack of clear patterns suggests that
the high degree of variability in companies and staff make prescriptive
solutions unreliable as safety interventions.
Recommendations are made for assessing the content of checklists but
reservations remain over the effectiveness of a single solution for use in any
specific company
