Understanding and preventing dysfunctional behavior: a systems thinking approach
Abstract
Traditional strategies for managing occupational health and safety are reaching the limits of their effectiveness (Carayon et al., 2015; Salmon et al., 2023a). Accordingly, the last decade has seen a resurgence in the use of systems thinking-related models and methods to a point where they are now arguably dominant in safety science research (Hulme et al., 2019; Salmon et al., 2020; 2022). Systems thinking models assert that safety and adverse events are emergent properties arising from non-linear interactions between multiple components across complex sociotechnical systems (Rasmussen, 1997). This creates a shared responsibility for safety that spansall levels of work systems, up to and including regulatory bodies, government and international organizations. In adverse event analysis, the overall system therefore becomes the unit of analysis with attempts to understand causation looking beyond the so-called #sharp-end# (e.g. individuals directly involved in incidents) to also consider factors within the broader organizational, social andpolitical system. This means that decisions and actions made at government, regulatory and organizational levels can play a role inboth safety and adverse events that occur at the #sharp end#. Systems thinking therefore offers an alternative approach to traditional individualistic and deterministic approaches focused on human error and accident proneness.Whilst various systems thinking models and methods exist, Rasmussen#s risk management framework (Rasmussen, 1997) and associated Accident Mapping technique (AcciMap; Svedung & Rasmussen, 2002) are arguably the most popular, and have been applied extensively for incident analysis and prevention purposes in a range of domains (Salmon et al., 2020; 2022). To date, however, they have not been applied to the analysis of incidents caused by dysfunctional behaviors. The Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems (CHFSTS) understands that the Office of NavalResearch (ONR) are seeking to better understand and prevent dysfunctional behavior-related incidents. The aim of the proposed project is to apply systems thinking-based theory and methods to enhance the US Navy#s understanding of the system wide causes of dysfunctional behavior-related incidents, and to develop a contributory factor classification scheme to support the reporting and analysis of future incidents. Specifically, the proposed project involves the following activities:1. Development of prototype dysfunctional behavior-related incident contributory factor classification scheme.2. Validation of prototype dysfunctional behavior-related incident contributory factor classification scheme.3. Reliability and validity testing of the new dysfunctional behavior-related incident contributory factor classification scheme.The outputs of the proposed research are relevant to future naval operations as they will:a. Enhance the US Navy#s understanding of the causes of dysfunctional behavior-related incidents, which will in turn enhance prevention efforts; andb. Provide a reliable and valid dysfunctional behavior-related incident contributory factor classification scheme tosupport future incident analysis efforts. This will support the post-project development of a systems thinking-based incident reporting and learning system.The long-term expected impact of the research will be the resolution of the systemic causes of dysfunctional behavior-related incidents, resulting in their elimination or reduction.The proposed research aligns with the ONR#s Human Performance, Training and Education and Naval Force Health Protection research programs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 08, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412458
Entities
People
- Paul Salmon
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of the Sunshine Coast