Research suggests that human error contributes to unsafe practices and accidents more than two-thirds of the time in technologically advanced industries, such as aviation. Therefore, we sought to determine the factors that contribute to unsafe practices in these industries by reviewing the available literature regarding safety and safety culture. We found an overwhelming number of studies that suggest that a poor organizational safety culture is a significant contributor to errors and accidents. We also found that there was a lack of consistency between what the literature prescribes in terms of promoting safety and what organizations actually practice. As organizations are using more complex technologies, the need to develop a safety culture that encourages the safe implementation and use of technologies is apparent. As such, we developed guidelines to assist in the development of a safety culture that encourages safe practices at all levels of the organizations. We hope that the information provided will help organizations to improve safety within their organization.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BarlingJ.ZacharatosA. (1999). High performance safety systems: Ten management practices to create safe organizations. Paper presented at the Academy of Management meeting, Chicago, 1999.
2.
DeckerS. (2001). The field guide to human error investigations. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate.
3.
DeganiA.WienerE. L. (1997). Philosophy, policies, procedures and practices: The four 'P's of flight deck operations. In JohnstonN.McDonaldN.FullerR.Aviation psychology in practice (pp. 44–67. Aldershot: Avebury.
4.
DiazR. I.CabreraD. D. (1997). Safety climate and attitudes as evaluation measures of organizational safety. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 29(5), 643–650.
5.
GabaD. M. (2000). Structural and organizational issues in patient safety: A comparison of health care to other high-hazard industries. California Management Review, 43(1), 83–102.
6.
GoldsteinI. L. (1993). Training in organizations (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing.
7.
HelmreichR. L. (in press). Culture, threat, and error: Assessing system safety. To appear in Safety in Aviation: The management commitment: Proceedings of a Conference. London: Royal Aeronautical Society.
8.
HofmannD. A.StetzerA. (1996). A cross-level investigation of factors influencing unsafe behaviors and accidents. Personnel Psychology, 49, 307–339.
9.
ImadaA. S.NagamachiM. (1990). Improving occupational safety and health: Non-traditional organizational design and management approaches. In NoroK.BrownO.Jr.Human factors in organizational design and management-III (pp. 483–486. North-Holland: Elsevier Science Publishers.
10.
KirkpatrickD. L. (1976). Evaluation of training. In CraigR. L.Training and development handbook: A guide to human resource development (2nd Ed., pp. 1–26). New York: McGraw Hill.
11.
KraigerK.FordJ. K.SalasE. (1993). Application of cognitive, skill-based, and affective theories of learning outcomes to new methods of training evaluation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78(2), 311–328.
12.
PidgeonN. F. (1998). Safety culture: Key theoretical issues. Work & Stress, 12, 202–216.
13.
PidgeonN. F.O'LearyM. (1994). Organizational safety culture: Implications for aviation practice. In JohnstonN. A.McDonaldN.FullerR.Aviation psychology in practice (pp. 21–43. Aldershot: Avebury Technical.
14.
RouillerJ. Z.GoldsteinI. L. (1993). The relationship between organizational transfer climate and positive transfer of training. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 4, 377–390.
15.
RunyanC. W. (1998). Using the Haddon matrix: Introducing the third dimension. Injury Prevention, 4, 302–307.
16.
SalasE.Cannon-BowersJ. A. (1997). Methods, tools, and strategies for team training. In QuinonesM. A.EhrensteinA.Training for a rapidly changing workplace: Applications of psychological research (pp. 249–279. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
17.
SalasE.Cannon-BowersJ. A. (2000). Designing training systems systematically. In LockeE.A.The Blackwell handbook of principles of organizational behavior (pp. 43–59. Maiden, MA: Blackwell Publisher.
18.
SalasE.Cannon-BowersJ. A. (2001). The science of training: A decade of progress. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 471–499.
19.
SalasE.MilhamL. M.BowersC. A. (2003). Training evaluation in the military: Misconceptions, opportunities, and challenges. Military Psychology, 15(1), 3–16.
20.
SalasE.BurkeC. S.BowersC. A.WilsonK. A. (2001). Team training in the skies: Does crew resource management (CRM) training work? Human Factors, 43(4), 641–674.
21.
ShappellS. A.WiegmannD. A. (1997). A human error approach to accident investigation: The taxonomy of unsafe operations. The International Journal of Aviation Psychology, 7(4), 269–291.
22.
TraceyB. J.TannenbaumS. I.KavanaghM. J. (1995). Applying trained skills on the job: The importance of the work environment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80, 239–252.
23.
WestrumR. (1993). Culture with requisite imagination. In WiseJ.HopkinD.Verification and validation: Human factors aspects (pp. 401–416. New York: Springer.
24.
WilsonK. A.PriestH. A.SalasE.BurkeC. S. (in press). Can training for safe practices reduce the risk of organizational liability? To appear in NoyI.KarwowskiW.Handbook of forensic human factors and ergonomicsTaylor & Francis.
25.
Wilson-DonnellyK. A.PriestH. A.SalasE.BurkeC. S. (under review). Safety in manufacturing: The need for a multilevel approach. Submitted to Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing Distinguished Invited Papers Series.
26.
ZiskovskyJ. P. (1984). Risk analysis and the R3 factor. Proceedings of the 8th Robotic Conference, Detroit, MI (pp. 15.9–15.21). Dearborn, MI: Robotics International of SME.
