Dissertation
Anticipating System Safety Performance: System-Level Safety Leading Indicators
University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
Doctor of Philosophy, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
2025
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25907/00924
Abstract
Proactive safety management uses safety performance indicators or safety leading indicators to provide information on current and future system states. These indicators are designed to provide early warning of potential future events. However, leading indicator systems have tended not to be aligned with contemporary systems-thinking models of safety and accident causation. To ‘future-proof’ sociotechnical systems (STSs) against accidents, leading indicators are required that provide insight into system states at the systems level. This thesis aimed to develop a systems thinking-based safety leading indicator scheme. A railway projects environment was selected as the application domain, given the rail industry has experienced system-scale accidents over time, is relatively accessible from a research perspective and is an interesting expression of a complex sociotechnical system. Previous work synthesising contemporary accident causation models produced 15 system accident tenets (SATs) that were adopted as the underpinning theoretical approach to this thesis.
Details
- Title
- Anticipating System Safety Performance: System-Level Safety Leading Indicators
- Authors
- Elizabeth Grey - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science
- Contributors
- Paul Salmon (Principal Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems ScienceGemma Read (Co-Supervisor) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Centre for Human Factors and Systems ScienceGuy H Walker (Co-Supervisor) - Heriot-Watt University
- Awarding institution
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- Degree awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland
- DOI
- 10.25907/00924
- Organisation Unit
- Centre for Human Factors and Systems Science; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991127503302621
- Output Type
- Dissertation
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