What do applications of systems thinking accident analysis methods tell us about accident causation? A systematic review of applications between 1990 and 2018

Abstract

Introduction: This systemic review examines and reports on peer reviewed studies that have applied systems thinking accident analysis methods to better understand the cause of accidents in a diverse range of sociotechnical systems contexts.Methods: Four databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science) were searched for published articles during the dates 01 January 1990 to 31 July 2018, inclusive, for original peer reviewed journal articles. Eligible studies applied AcciMap, the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), the Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes (STAMP) method, including Causal Analysis based on STAMP (CAST), and the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM). Outcomes included accidents ranging from major events to minor incidents.Results: A total of 73 articles were included. There were 20, 43, six, and four studies in the Accimap, HFACS, STAMP-CAST, and FRAM methods categories, respectively. The most popular accident contexts were aviation, maritime, rail, public health, and mining. A greater number of contributory factors were found at the lower end of the sociotechnical systems analysed, including the equipment/technology, human/staff, and operating processes levels. A majority of studies used supplementary approaches to enhance the analytical capacity of base applications.Conclusions: Systems thinking accident analysis methods have been popular for close to two decades and have been applied in a diverse range of sociotechnical systems contexts. A number of researchbased recommendations are proposed, including the need to upgrade incident reporting systems and further explore opportunities around the development of novel accident analysis approaches.

Can Complexity-Thinking Methods Contribute to Improving Occupational Safety in Industry 4.0? A Review of Safety Analysis Methods and Their Concepts

“…It will be examined whether these complexity-thinking methods match the challenges specific to Industry 4.0. This extends the work from former studies that have examined a similar shift in relation to accident investigation methods [14], or studies that cover in more detail a tendency towards systems and complexity thinking in safety management in general [10,16,[21][22][23][24][25]; this is in answer to the changing nature of industrial risk [11,13,21].…”

“…Hazard and Operability Studies (HAZOP) [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] Identifies deviations from intended design of equipment, based on the use of predetermined guide words.…”

Modeling complex socio‐technical systems using the FRAM: A literature review

“…FRAM can also be used for accident/incident investigations, as Hulme et al (2019) and Shire et al (2018) pointed out. It simply means that FRAM facilitates the process of analyzing something that has happened (retrospective analysis) (Huang et al, 2019).…”

Applying a systems thinking lens to injury causation in the outdoors: Evidence collected during 3 years of the Understanding and Preventing Led Outdoor Accidents Data System

“…Systems analysis methods are now widely accepted as the most appropriate for understanding and informing the prevention of adverse incidents 11. Systems analysis methods are increasingly being applied across multiple safety critical domains 12. For example, AcciMap is a popular injury analysis method that is based on Rasmussen’s Risk Management Framework (RMF) (figure 1).…”