TRADITIONAL APPROACHES TO WORK ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

FEATURES, SHORTCOMINGS AND A NEW SUGGESTION FOR AN APPROACH BASED ON SYSTEMS THEORY

Authors

Keywords:

accident analysis, work accidents, STAMP, CAST, human error, systems theory, labor inspection

Abstract

Traditional accident analysis approaches – such as Swiss Cheese and Root Cause Analysis – are widely used by academics and occupational health and safety professionals in the study of these events. However, for the most part, these traditional approaches are based on theories from the 1990s that, although useful, are not able to adequately deal with all the complexity of the modern world, which includes interaction between man, machine, algorithm, and environment. Equally, these approaches: limit the learning potential of an adverse event; are influenced, to an undesired level, by the subjectivity of the analyst; and suffer from hindsight bias, inevitably representing “human error” or “unsafe act” as one of the contributing factors of the accident. The STAMP/CAST approach, based on Systems Theory, is presented as an alternative to overcome the limitations of traditional tools. Several studies have shown that STAMP/CAST was superior to traditional techniques in identifying causal factors and generating recommendations for preventing new accidents.

Author Biographies

  • Renan Guimarães Landi, Labor Inspection, Ministry of Labor

    Labor Inspector of Ministry of Labor, performing, since 2014, analysis of occupational accidents and inspection of safety and health at work (OSH), mainly.

    Computer Engineer by Universidade Federal de São Carlos (2006), specialization in Labor Law by Faculdade União das Américas (2020) and Master's in progress in Production Engineering by Universidade de São Paulo.

  • Uiara Bandineli Montedo, Production Engineering Department, Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (USP)

    Assistant Professor at the Production Engineering Department of the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (Poli/USP), where she develops teaching, research and extension activities, focusing on the area of ​​Ergonomics. Associate Researcher at the Artificial Intelligence Center (C4AI) at IBM/USP/FAPESP, in which she participates in the AgriBio-Food Security Group (http://c4ai.inova.usp.br/agribio-en/), which seeks to develop analyzes and Artificial Intelligence solutions for the promotion and achievement of Food Security and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He teaches in several Engineering courses at the Polytechnic School of USP and in the Design Course at FAU/USP. Member of the Research Group on Work, Technology and Organization (TTO) and Member of the Laboratory of Engineering and Work Project (LEPT), both from the Department of Production Engineering at Polytechnic School/USP. Member of the Organizing Committee of the Ergonomics Journey at Poli, an international, annual and free event organized by the Production Engineering Department of the Polytechnic School of USP, together with Instituto Trabalhar. Member of the Scientific Council of Instituto Trabalhar (https://www.institutotrabalhar.com.br). Specialist in Occupational Safety Engineering from Escola Politécnica da USP, she holds a degree in Agronomic Engineering from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (1986), a Master's degree in Production Engineering (1994) and a PhD in Production Engineering (2001), both degrees from the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. During the Doctoral period, he obtained a Sandwich Doctoral scholarship granted by CAPES for 16 months, in France, in which he developed activities in three French institutions: Université Bordeaux 2 - Laboratoire des Systèmes Complexes, École Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) and Agence Nationale pour l'Amélioration des Conditions de Travail (ANACT)

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Published

2023-12-22

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2023): Revista da Escola Nacional da Inspeção do Trabalho - Ano 7 - 2023

Section

Artigos