The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Mental causal models of incidents communicated in licensee event reports in a process industry

Author

Summary, in English

The present investigation describes some mental causal models used in incident reports. Some of the models (e.g., single-cause models) are simpler than others (e.g., causal-tree models). The models are also associated with different ways of explaining an incident or accident and with different recommendations for increasing the safety of a system.

In study 1, incident reports from Swedish nuclear power plants known to use human or organisational factors were analysed. The analysis showed that the most frequent model was a simple single-cause model and that the remainder were usually two-step models leading to a reported event. Multiple cause and more complex models were less frequent.

Study 2 analysed all licensee event reports (including those reports not related to human organisational factors) from four reactors assessed by regulators during the year. The results showed that single-cause and two-step accident models were more frequent than more complex models. The analyses also revealed that different detection modes were related to different models.

Publishing year

2003

Language

English

Pages

211-217

Publication/Series

Cognition, Technology & Work

Volume

5

Issue

3

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Springer

Topic

  • Psychology

Keywords

  • Accident
  • Incident
  • Nuclear power
  • Process industry
  • Risk analysis

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1435-5566