ABSTRACT
This chapter compares the accident analysis methods in terms of their outputs when applied for accident analysis purposes. In practice, however, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is more often than not limited to failures on the front line and the human and hardware failures involved. The Critical Decision Method (CDM) approach typically focuses on decision making processes and the factors influencing them and so is capable of identifying failures at all levels, at least from the point of view of the person subject to interview. TRACEr focuses specifically on the errors made by individual operators on the front line, but does include performance shaping factors up to and including the company level. Social Network Analysis (SNA) typically focuses on the communications between workers, supervisors and managers during task performance and often does not include communications preceding the scenario under analysis.
