Conference presentation
Preventing injuries in the outdoors: the development of a national approach to incident reporting and analysis
USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2014
Abstract
There is an acknowledged risk of both severe and frequent injury associated with "led" (i.e. facilitated or instructed) outdoor activities (Cessford, 2013; Dickson, Chapman, & Hurrell, 2000). To prevent future injuries, the UPLOADS project has developed a reliable and valid incident reporting, storage and analysis tools. The UPLOADS Software Tool helps organisations collect and analyse detailed information on near misses and adverse events. Organisations then contribute their data to a National dataset that is regularly analysed and disseminated so that the sector can understand the risks it faces and take appropriate action. Currently, a national trial of the system is underway involving 30 organisations, including schools, commercial adventure operations, camps and training organisations. Recruitment continues; industry peak bodies and government departments have committed to comprehensive participation in the project. Why does UPLOADS matter? First and foremost it will enable led outdoor activity providers to better understand adverse events which in turn will enable them to prevent them and the injuries associated with them. Second, the UPLOADS Software Tool represents a highly innovative, novel, approach to reducing injuries and demonstrates how the latest thinking in accident causation can be translated into a practical tool to be used in the real world. We have adapted a well-established systems approach, Rasmussen's Risk Management Framework, to collect and analyse aggregate data on occupational injuries. Previously, this framework has only been applied to the analysis of large-scale disasters and has not been used to analyse aggregate sets of incidents. Translating the new accident analysis framework into an easy to use software tool is also novel. This allows practitioners to be able to use the framework within their everyday work and formalises the application of the framework. The development process involved a significant body of research and has led to various peer reviewed journal articles (e.g. Goode et al, In Press; Salmon et al, In Press). The contribution of this project is not only to inspire new thinking in safety science, but also to translate this into a practical tool to create the paradigm shift within the outdoor education, recreation and adventure sector.
Details
- Title
- Preventing injuries in the outdoors: the development of a national approach to incident reporting and analysis
- Authors
- Natassia Goode (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Business
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2014 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 14-Jul-2014–18-Jul-2014)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2014
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2014 The Author.
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450203302621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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