Roadmap to the Implementation of Best Practices in Human Factors Voluntary Reporting for Safety.
Darveau, Katherine.
2015
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Abstract: Federal
agencies responsible for defining standards in high-risk industries (such as aviation,
rail, and healthcare) promote voluntary reporting of personally committed errors and
violations as a way to meet safety management system requirements. Although voluntary
reporting systems are valuable tools for uncovering error causal factors, they are often
underutilized. This thesis ide... read morentified barriers and facilitators to effective voluntary
reporting practices through a literature review and interviews with industry
professionals. Identified barriers include insufficient organizational commitment to
safety culture, lack of user trust in voluntary reporting systems and in management,
unclear system policy and procedure definition, inadequate training techniques, and
ineffective use of voluntary reports to implement meaningful solutions. Following the
identification of these barriers, a questionnaire was distributed to test for
statistically significant variations in reporting perceptions between system users and
management. Responses from 30 mechanics and 27 managers revealed vast underreporting of
reportable events and significant discrepancies in reporting perceptions based on age,
work experience, and familiarity with voluntary reporting systems. Results also showed
inconsistent views of justification for non-reporting. These findings were used to
quantify the relative magnitudes of the identified barriers and to offer recommendations
for minimizing their effect on voluntary
reporting.
Thesis (M.S.)--Tufts University, 2015.
Submitted to the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.
Advisor: Daniel Hannon.
Committee: Thomas James, and Kurt Rever.
Keywords: Engineering, and Psychology.read less - ID:
- hq37w0673
- Component ID:
- tufts:21391
- To Cite:
- DCA Citation Guide EndNote
