The complexity of failure: Implications of complexity theory for safety investigations

Dekker, Sidney; Cilliers, Paul; Hofmeyr, Jan-Hendrik S.

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2011.01.008

Cited by 276 publications

(184 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The system's performance is subject to constant changes related to time passage, scientific advances or the outcomes of past events and occurrences (Dekker et al, 2011 andLeveson, 2011). The more the systems performance is dynamic and variable, the more actors' behaviour becomes hard to predict.…”

Section: Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Retrospective analysis of the relatively rare previous crashes is therefore limited in capturing risk factors at play in the specific circumstances and provides insufficient information about the current systems' state and performance. At the same time, prospective analysis is better placed to consider and predict systems' dynamics, although it would always be subject to changes over time and limitations related to the method of data collection and analysis (Dekker et al, 2011).…”

Section: Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Systems-based approach to investigate unsafe pedestrian behaviour at level crossings

Stefanova

Burkhardt²,

Filtness

et al. 2015

Accident Analysis & Prevention

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Section: Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Systems Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systems-based approach to investigate unsafe pedestrian behaviour at level crossings

Stefanova

Burkhardt²,

Filtness

et al. 2015

Accident Analysis & Prevention

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The sustainable safety of a system can be characterised as an emergent property, that is, it is something that cannot be designed like the component parts of the system [40]. In this sense, the occupational and environmental accidents can be characterised as emergent properties of complex systems [50]. Virtually all risk assessments are conducted in a state of relative ignorance about the full operation of the system in question, and in some cases in a state of complete ignorance regarding its typical functioning [51].…”

Section: Risk Assessment In Complex Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Resilience Engineering Approach for Sustainable Safety in Green Construction

Rosa

Franca

Haddad

et al. 2017

J. sustain. dev. energy water environ. syst.

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Sustainable construction is a complex endeavour, involving various stakeholders and resulting in situations that are incompletely described or underspecified. Traditional risk assessment methods require a detailed description of the system and safety, focusing on undesirable outcomes, losses, incidents and accidents. Developing this principle, this research describes a new way to deal with risk assessment in the green construction industry using a resilience engineering method based on the functional resonance analysis method and analytic hierarchy process methodologies. The functional resonance analysis method defines a systemic framework to model complex systems based on combinations of function variabilities during normal work. Therefore, to quantify the outcomes for risk assessment, this method was used together with the analytic hierarchy process in a case study during the modernisation work on the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The results of this case study demonstrate that the combined utilisation of the functional resonance analysis method and analytic hierarchy process can be utilised to recognise situations where developments could potentially be without control, which enables this to be used as a basis for performing indicators or a monitoring system. Furthermore, this combined technique can be used to assess and quantify the performance variabilities that may lead to occupational or environmental accidents, and provide new recommendations about how work processes should function, minimising production losses, incidents and accidents.

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“…We therefore have to revert to theories that allow for diffuseness and relative freedom for all concerned. According to Dekker et al (2011), we have to search for a theory that regards an outcome as emerging from a complex network of causal interactions and not from a single factor. Such a theory, according to Anderson (1999:217-218), should resist simple reductionist analyses because interconnections and feedback loops preclude holding some sub-systems constant in order to study them in isolation.…”

Section: A Few Other Theories Consideredmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-directed learning research: An imperative for transforming the educational landscape

Mentz¹,

Oosthuizen²

2016

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The complexity of failure: Implications of complexity theory for safety investigations

Cited by 276 publications

References 15 publications

Systems-based approach to investigate unsafe pedestrian behaviour at level crossings

Systems-based approach to investigate unsafe pedestrian behaviour at level crossings

A Resilience Engineering Approach for Sustainable Safety in Green Construction

Self-directed learning research: An imperative for transforming the educational landscape

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