Accidents are inevitable in our lives and they affect us in many aspects ranging from economical to social, health to legal. While it is not possible to remove accidents from our lives completely, it is possible to develop new techniques or set new standards or prepare contingency plans to reduce their possibility of happening or to alleviate their consequences. This book, aiming to enlighten our ways to prevent accidents, is a compilation of articles authored by reputable international academicians from several disciplines such as maritime studies, defense technologies, emergency management, and psychiatry and behavioral medicine.

Accidents are preventable, but only if they are correctly described and understood. Since the mid-1980s accidents have come to be seen as the consequence of complex interactions rather than simple threads of causes and effects. Yet progress in accident models has not been matched by advances in methods. The author's work in several fields (aviation, power production, traffic safety, healthcare) made it clear that there is a practical need for constructive methods and this book presents the experiences and the state-of-the-art. The focus of the book is on accident prevention rather than accident analysis and unlike other books, has a proactive rather than reactive approach. The emphasis on design rather than analysis is a trend also found in other fields. Features of the book include: -A classification of barrier functions and barrier systems that will enable the reader to appreciate the diversity of barriers and to make informed decisions for system changes. -A perspective on how the understanding of accidents (the accident model) largely determines how the analysis is done and what can be achieved. The book critically assesses three types of accident models (sequential, epidemiological, systemic) and compares their strengths and weaknesses. -A specific accident model that captures the full complexity of systemic accidents. One consequence is that accidents can be prevented through a combination of performance monitoring and barrier functions, rather than through the elimination or encapsulation of causes. -A clearly described methodology for barrier analysis and accident prevention. Written in an accessible style, Barriers and Accident Prevention is designed to provide a stimulating and practical guide for industry professionals familiar with the general ideas of accidents and human error. The book is directed at those involved with accident analysis and system safety, such as managers of safety departments, risk and safety consultants, human factors professionals, and accident investigators. It is applicable to all major application areas such as aviation, ground transportation, maritime, process industries, healthcare and hospitals, communication systems, and service providers.

The investigation and modelling of aviation accident causation is dominated by linear models. Aviation is, however, a complex system and as such suffers from being artificially manipulated into non-complex models and methods. This book addresses this issue by developing a new approach to investigating aviation accident causation through information networks. These networks centralise communication and the flow of information as key indicators of a system’s health and risk. This holistic approach focuses on the system environment, the activity that takes place within it, the strategies used to conduct this activity, the way in which the constituent parts of the system (both human and non-human) interact and the behaviour required. Each stage of this book identifies and expands upon the potential of the information network approach, maintaining firm focus on the overall health of a system. The book’s new model offers many potential developments and some key areas are studied in this research. Through the centralisation of barriers and information nodes the method can be applied to almost any situation. The application of Bayesian mathematics to historical data populations provides scope for studying error migration and barrier manipulation. The book also provides application of these predictions to a flight simulator study for the purposes of validation. Beyond this it also discusses the applicability of the approach to industry. Through working with a legacy airline the methods discussed are used as the basis for a new and prospective safety management system.

Human error is implicated in nearly all aviation accidents, yet most investigation and prevention programs are not designed around any theoretical framework of human error. Appropriate for all levels of expertise, the book provides the knowledge and tools required to conduct a human error analysis of accidents, regardless of operational setting (i.e. military, commercial, or general aviation). The book contains a complete description of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), which incorporates James Reason's model of latent and active failures as a foundation. Widely disseminated among military and civilian organizations, HFACS encompasses all aspects of human error, including the conditions of operators and elements of supervisory and organizational failure. It attracts a very broad readership. Specifically, the book serves as the main textbook for a course in aviation accident investigation taught by one of the authors at the University of Illinois. This book will also be used in courses designed for military safety officers and flight surgeons in the U.S. Navy, Army and the Canadian Defense Force, who currently utilize the HFACS system during aviation accident investigations. Additionally, the book has been incorporated into the popular workshop on accident analysis and prevention provided by the authors at several professional conferences world-wide. The book is also targeted for students attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University which has satellite campuses throughout the world and offers a course in human factors accident investigation for many of its majors. In addition, the book will be incorporated into courses offered by Transportation Safety International and the Southern California Safety Institute. Finally, this book serves as an excellent reference guide for many safety professionals and investigators already in the field.

Safety analysis can be applied as a practical tool in occupational safety. It has three main elements: the identification of hazards, the assessment of risks that arise, and the generation of measures to increase the level of safety. A number of simple methods are described that can be used in industry and the workplace, such as deviation analysis,

Every day thousands of people are killed and injured on our roads. Millions of people each year will spend long weeks in the hospital after severe crashes and many will never be able to live, work or play as they used to do. Current efforts to address road safety are minimal in comparison to this growing human suffering. This report presents a comprehensive overview of what is known about the magnitude, risk factors and impact of road traffic injuries, and about ways to prevent and lessen the impact of road crashes. Over 100 experts, from all continents and different sectors -- including transport, engineering, health, police, education and civil society -- have worked to produce the report. Charts and tables.

Providing a practical introduction to the basic theories and principals of accident prevention through diagnosis and feedback control, this book presents the various methods and tools of safety, health, and environment (SHE) practice where experience feedback is employed. These include methods of accident and near accident reporting and investigation, workplace inspection, SHE performance measurement, and safety analysis and auditing. It also assesses potentials and limitations of the different methods and tools, including learning from experience of unwanted events and errors. It includes highly applicable data on developing a computer-supported SHE information system.

This new edition comes after about 15 years of development in the field of safety science and practice. The book addresses the question of how to improve risk assessments, investigations, and organizational learning inside companies in order to prevent unwanted occurrences. The book helps the reader in analyzing the subject from different scientific perspectives to demonstrate how they contribute to an overall understanding. It also gives a comprehensive overview of different methods and tools for use in safety practice and helps the reader in analyzing their scope, merits, and shortcomings. The book raises a number of critical issues to be addressed in the improvement process.

Accident Prevention and OSHA Compliance contains all the information you need to reduce or avoid injuries, illnesses, fires, and equipment damage resulting from an accident. The book provides valuable insight into how OSHA conducts its inspections and how to avoid losses and increase profits by complying with OSHA regulations. By following the easy-to-understand techniques and guidelines, you can effectively train personnel on safety and health issues. The book explains accident causes and describes unsafe acts and conditions. It offers suggestions about how to look for hazards and how to safety-check each step of a job. Guidelines are given for constructing a safety inspection list, conducting a job hazard analysis and how to revise it, organizing a safety committee, and reporting accidents to OSHA. It also includes steps that can be used to protect trade secrets. Human factors and limitations, protective equipment and its proper usage, first aid and medical care, and much more are detailed. Record-keeping requirements are given and examples of direct and indirect costs of accidents are illustrated. The effects of drugs and alcohol and tips to recognize users are discussed. Helpful appendices contain numerous charts and tables, useful contacts, and valuable additional information. The book also includes various office and home hazards and injuries, and steps to follow to make both places safe. Written by a professional with vast experience as an engineer, certified hazard control manager, professor of safety and health, and safety consultant, Accident Prevention and OSHA Compliance provides a single source covering the immense amount of information on this subject. The proven principles and practices found in this book cover every aspect of accident prevention and provide perfect solutions to profit-losing problems.

Marine accidents can occur at any time and everywhere in the world, resulting in loss of life, property, environment and reputation of the companies involved. Preventing accidents and establishing a safer world without accidents is an important agenda for the maritime industry. Since the enforcement of the International Safety Management Code in 1998, companies have taken various kinds of measures to prevent accidents. Unfortunately, measures have been undertaken in a disorganized manner, and have not been effective. Experts of risk management, the safety management system, and accident models have each undertaken accident preventive measures within the scope of their specific fields, but have not looked beyond the realm of their own fields. This book discusses systematic accident prevention by integrating multi-disciplinary expertise based on academic research, the quality management system which has already proved its effectiveness in other fields, and findings of the author’s research. In systematic accident prevention, the weaknesses of a system within which accidents and incidents have occurred are viewed by combining scientific accident investigation data based on the International Maritime Organization model and the accident model. The nature of every type of marine accident, such as collisions, groundings, occupational casualties, etc., are derived by combining the accident model and statistical data. System weaknesses are rectified by the risk reduction method of risk management, and the rectified performance is incorporated in improvement in the system by the PDCA cycle, which is the core of the Safety Management System. We can see the weakness in the system and reduce the number of accidents and incidents while utilizing limited resources optimally to prevent accidents and incidents.