ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that people assign causes to safety events in functional and variable ways. Importantly, recognition of the fact allows for an analysis of attributional ('cause-choosing') behaviour that can shed light on the systems in question. It attempts to show that rigorous analysis of the explanations can shed light on systems, for example by providing a definition of 'safety culture' that has previously been elusive. It also shows how the attribution of causes to events involving human actions can most often be seen to be unreliable. The epistemological arguments lead to a way of looking at the causes people assign which can broadly be described as discursive. Understanding the bias in causal investigation is vital for interpreting and understanding event reports, so that resources can be targeted wisely. The chapter discusses attribution in a safety management context, and describes how some of the functions and motivations inherent in the process lead to tendencies to attribute certain types of causes.
