ABSTRACT
Safety management systems (SMSs) provide integrated organizational mechanisms designed to control safety risks, as well as current and future safety performance (Cooper, 1998). Part of an SMS consists of instruments focusing on assessing both the safety level of an organization and the effectiveness of measures an organization takes in order to improve its safety. However, in practice, the information basis regarding these two aspects is often very vague. This vagueness is due to a multiplicity of factors contributing to safety, as well as a lack of knowledge regarding their complex interrelations. Furthermore, there is also a lack of methods for objective, reliable, and valid measurement of these factors (Waefler et al., 2008). In order to proactively mitigate risks or provide resilient processes able to cope with safety threats, a more reliable information basis would be very helpful.
