Foundations Of Safety Science

How are today’s ‘hearts and minds’ programs linked to a late-19th century definition of human factors as people’s moral and mental deficits? What do Heinrich’s ‘unsafe acts’ from the 1930’s have in common with the Swiss cheese model of the early 1990’s? Why was the reinvention of human factors in the 1940’s such an important event in the development of safety thinking? What makes many of our current systems so complex and impervious to Tayloristic safety interventions? ‘Foundations of Safety Science’ covers the origins of major schools of safety thinking, and traces the heritage and interlinkages of the ideas that make up safety science today. Features Offers a comprehensive overview of the theoretical foundations of safety science Provides balanced treatment of approaches since the early 20th century, showing interlinkages and cross-connections Includes an overview and key points at the beginning of each chapter and study questions at the end to support teaching use Uses an accessible style, using technical language where necessary Concentrates on the philosophical and historical traditions and assumptions that underlie all safety approaches

For many years "safety technology" has constituted the essential instrument for the prevention of accidents as a direct result of handling new technology. Its awareness of the interactions prevalent in natural science causes safety technology to act on the basis of actual accidents, and it Ulilizes to their fullest extent any means provided by the engineering sciences. Man proceeds in a general direction towards preselVation and improvement, thus working towards the optimization of the technical design. However. a new set of basic problems presented itself the moment new large-scale technologies were introduced into the areas of processing, energy, and traffic, thereby creating a considerable amount of ad ditional danger potential. This also signified the end of an era when safety technology could be practiced chiefly on the basis of accident statistics. For ethical reasons it became necessary that a credible prognosis as to the type and effect of accidents took the place, or at least supplemented, the hitherto practiced purely reactive methods. The realization that the available means of safety technology were no longer sufficient in a highly technologized environment spurred the demand for entirely new concepts which would eventually lead to a higher degree of safety. A decisive step had to be taken away from a purely technical approach and fOwards and all-encompassing look at accident systems, because man had become aware of the fact that accidents will always be a part of the interaction between man, technology, and environment.

Covering a wide range of health care disciplines, Foundations in Patient Safety for Health Professionals is a practical, comprehensive guide to creating a culture of safety in health care settings. Developed by faculty members in bioethics, business, dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, and social work, this introductory textbook presents the history of safety and the core concepts of patient safety. This important resource features a patient-centered approach within a practice-based context. Written in a straightforward style, it uses personal and professional stories to illustrate the application of safety principles. Modules and case-based exercises help students learn the importance of safety best practices and quality improvements. Practicing health care professionals will also find this book to be a valuable resource.

Safety is a word that has many connotations, of risk ofa possible accident that is acceptable conjuring up different meanings to different to one person· may not be acceptable to an people. What is safety? A scientist views safety other. This may be one reason why skydiving as a consideration in the design of an exper and mountain climbing are sports that are not iment. A manufacturing plant engineer looks as popular as are, say, boating or skiing. on safety as one of the necessary factors in But even activities that have high levels of developing a manufacturing process. A legis potential risk can be engaged in safely. How lator is likely to see safety as an important part can we minimize risks so that they decrease of an environmental law. A governmental ad to acceptable levels? We can do this by iden ministrator may consider various safety issues tifying sources of hazards and by assessing the when reviewing the environmental conse risks of accidents inherent to these hazards. quences of a proposed project. An attorney Most hazards that are faced in the laboratory may base a negligence suit on safety defects.

This book explores the challenges, opportunities, applications, and implications of applying qualitative research to critical questions of research and practice in the field of organizational risk and safety. The book brings together a diverse perspective to explore the practice of conducting qualitative research as well as to debate the quality of research and knowledge, drawing on a range of different perspectives and traditions. It offers novel and innovative developments in data collection and data analysis methods and tools that can be applied to safety, risk, and accident analysis in complex systems. It also will present practical issues associated with data access and empirical research in challenging and high-stakes environments. This book will provide academics, researchers, students, and professionals in the fields of safety, accident analysis, and risk with a broad-range and expert guide to the key issues and debates in the field, as well as a set of exemplary cases and reflective narratives from leading researchers in the field.

Safety Science Research: Evolution, Challenges and New Directions provides a unique perspective into the latest developments of safety science by putting together, for the first time, a new generation of authors with some of the pioneers of the field. Forty years ago, research traditions were developed, including, among others, high-reliability organisations, cognitive system engineering or safety regulations. In a fast-changing world, the new generation introduces, in this book, new disciplinary insights, addresses contemporary empirical issues, develops new concepts and models while remaining critical of safety research practical ambitions. Their ideas are then reflected and discussed by some of the pioneers of safety science. Features Allows the reader to discover how contemporary safety issues are currently framed by a new generation of researchers, brought together for the first time Includes an introduction and guide to the development of safety science over the last four decades Features an extraordinary collection of expert contributors, including pioneers of safety research, reflecting the evolution of the discipline and offering insightful commentary on the current and future state of the field Serves as an invaluable reference and guide for safety professionals and students from any established disciplines such as sociology, engineering, psychology, political science or management as well as dedicated safety programmes Some figures in the eBook are in colour

The aim of this book is to show how a cultural approach can contribute to the assessment, description and improvement of safety conditions in organizations. The relationship between organizational culture and safety, epitomized through the concept of 'safety culture', has undoubtedly become one of the hottest topics of both safety research and practical efforts to improve safety. By combining a general framework and five research projects, the author explores and further develops the theoretical, methodological and practical basis of the study of safety culture. What are the theoretical foundations of a cultural approach to safety? How can the relationship between organizational culture and safety be empirically investigated? What are the links between organizational culture and safety in actual organizations? How can a cultural approach contribute to the improvement of safety? These are the key questions the book seeks to answer with a unified and in-depth account of the concept of safety culture.