ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on experience feedback as a process managed at the organisational level and its role in management of safety. It distinguishes between negative and positive feedback. The chapter reviews mechanisms for experience feedback. It distinguishes between two main mechanisms for such feedback: the feedback cycle and the diagnostic process. Heinrich introduced a formal decision-making routine similar to the diagnostic process in his pioneering work on industrial safety management. A structured approach is also represented by Mintzberg's conceptual model of the decision-making process. Ashby's law on requisite variety is helpful to understand whether sufficient actions have been undertaken to manage a system's safety performance. A safety information system provides the information needed for decisions and signalling in the management of safety. Argyris' analysis of organisational defences also has implications for the design of safety information systems. The chapter concerns the significance of organisational learning in the prevention of accidents.
