What Fatal Occupational Accident Investigators Can Learn from Fatal Aircraft Accident Investigations

Our aim is to provide an overview of what international aircraft accident investigation practices could teach fatal occupational accident (FOA) investigators. The main purpose of an accident investigation is to prevent future accidents. This aim is easier to achieve if investigations are independent; biases and external pressures can place undue influence on particular recommendations. So far, independence has been easier to achieve in aviation investigations than in fatal occupational accident investigations. In FOAs, tensions often arise between different stakeholders including but not limited to industry regulators, police agencies, industry bodies, trades unions, insurance companies, etc. There are also a host of practical problems that complicate key activities in FOA investigations, including the need to prevent the contamination of evidence in the immediate aftermath of an accident. The authors argue that greater emphasis needs to be placed on the independence of FOA investigations and that this will help move the emphasis of recommendations from the worker level (sharp end) to the workplace and community system level (blunt end).

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.09.009
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092575351300218X
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09257535
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Vuorio, Alpo
  • Rantonen, Jarmo
  • Johnson, Christopher
  • Ollila, Tapani
  • Salminen, Simo
  • Braithwaite, Graham
• Publication Date: 2014-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 366-369
• Serial:
  • Safety Science
  • Volume: 62
  • Issue Number: 0
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0925-7535
  • Serial URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09257535

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation crashes; Crash characteristics; Crash investigation; Fatalities; Industrial accidents; Insurance industry; Occupational safety; Stakeholders
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors; I80: Accident Studies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01520687
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 31 2014 9:31AM