ABSTRACT

Most approaches that contribute to the design of life-critical systems almost only consider nominal situations where procedures can be developed and used to achieve satisfactory operations. These kinds of approaches lead to rigid ways of doing things and poorly address the needs for flexibility, especially when things go wrong. It is not a matter of human adaptation but of human systems integration (HSI) flexibility. HSI flexibility requires cross-fertilization of appropriate experiences combined with creativity. This book provides risk-management approaches and methods for combining prevention and design.

Features:

  • Discusses risk-management approaches and methods for combining prevention and design
  • Examines a transdisciplinary approach to risk management in design and operations of safer life-critical systems
  • Proposes an approach of work analysis during design, which enables design teams to consider HSI issues early enough to fix organizational problems upstream
  • Teaches the combination of prevention and design for safety management

This book gathers and analyzes relevant field data to rationalize human and systems activity in various life-critical environments and workplaces, in a systemic manner, and in a variety of safety domains (e.g., aviation, road, navy, manufacturing, hospital, transportation, defense, sport). It further formalizes and analyzes risk-taking experience, expertise, stories about critical events, and scientific and professional literature data to help engineering designers, managers, and health and safety specialists.

The text is primarily written for graduate students and professionals working in the fields of occupational health and safety, ergonomics, human factors, cognitive engineering, and human-system integration.

chapter 2|10 pages

From praise of danger to “reasoned” risk-taking

A psychological approach to risk-taking

chapter 5|14 pages

Worksite risk management as a cultural issue

The needs of risk work and regulation to improve safety culture

chapter 7|16 pages

Risk-taking: Submarine experience

chapter 9|24 pages

Aging and risk-taking

An increasing dimension of life-critical systems

chapter 10|8 pages

Risk-seeking in healthcare

A life-critical necessity 1

chapter 11|18 pages

Risk-seeking and the paradox of variability for safety in healthcare

Resonance 1 with R.L. Wears' text

chapter 12|28 pages

Managing and preventing operational risk-taking at design time

Stories from a human-centered design project

chapter 13|26 pages

Designing sustainable ‘plastic’ work systems

A resource for work-related prevention in France's waste management and recycling sector

chapter 14|5 pages

Conclusion