Probative blindness and false assurance about safety

Andrew Rae; Robert David Alexander

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005

Probative blindness and false assurance about safety

Andrew Rae, Robert David Alexander

Computer Science

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Safety activities may provide assurance of safety even where such assurance is unwarranted. This phenomenon – which we will call “probative blindness” – is evident both in hindsight analysis of accidents and in the daily practice of safety work. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of probative blindness. We achieve this by distinguishing probative blindness from other phenomena, identifying historical instances of probative blindness, and discussing characteristics and causes associated with these instances. The end product is an explanation of the features of probative blindness suitable for investigating the probative value of current safety activities, and ultimately for reducing the occurrence of probative blindness

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	190-204
Number of pages	15
Journal	Safety science
Volume	92
Early online date	26 Oct 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2017

Bibliographical note

© 2016, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

Access to Document

10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005Licence: Unspecified

Probative Blindness Postprint
© 2016, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.
Accepted author manuscript, 545 KBLicence: Unspecified

Cite this

@article{bde8da6e87ce447ab1a476e85f881712,

title = "Probative blindness and false assurance about safety",

abstract = "Safety activities may provide assurance of safety even where such assurance is unwarranted. This phenomenon – which we will call “probative blindness” – is evident both in hindsight analysis of accidents and in the daily practice of safety work. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of probative blindness. We achieve this by distinguishing probative blindness from other phenomena, identifying historical instances of probative blindness, and discussing characteristics and causes associated with these instances. The end product is an explanation of the features of probative blindness suitable for investigating the probative value of current safety activities, and ultimately for reducing the occurrence of probative blindness",

author = "Andrew Rae and Alexander, {Robert David}",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2016, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher{\textquoteright}s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.",

year = "2017",

month = feb,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005",

language = "English",

volume = "92",

pages = "190--204",

journal = "Safety science",

issn = "0925-7535",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Probative blindness and false assurance about safety

AU - Rae, Andrew

AU - Alexander, Robert David

N1 - © 2016, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2017/2/1

Y1 - 2017/2/1

N2 - Safety activities may provide assurance of safety even where such assurance is unwarranted. This phenomenon – which we will call “probative blindness” – is evident both in hindsight analysis of accidents and in the daily practice of safety work. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of probative blindness. We achieve this by distinguishing probative blindness from other phenomena, identifying historical instances of probative blindness, and discussing characteristics and causes associated with these instances. The end product is an explanation of the features of probative blindness suitable for investigating the probative value of current safety activities, and ultimately for reducing the occurrence of probative blindness

AB - Safety activities may provide assurance of safety even where such assurance is unwarranted. This phenomenon – which we will call “probative blindness” – is evident both in hindsight analysis of accidents and in the daily practice of safety work. The purpose of this paper is to describe the phenomenon of probative blindness. We achieve this by distinguishing probative blindness from other phenomena, identifying historical instances of probative blindness, and discussing characteristics and causes associated with these instances. The end product is an explanation of the features of probative blindness suitable for investigating the probative value of current safety activities, and ultimately for reducing the occurrence of probative blindness

U2 - 10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005

DO - 10.1016/j.ssci.2016.10.005

M3 - Article

SN - 0925-7535

VL - 92

SP - 190

EP - 204

JO - Safety science

JF - Safety science

ER -