ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the problems of incident reporting systems, and suggests ways of maximising the benefits of systems through confidential reporting. S. Clarke found that the pattern of intended under-reporting indicated a 'risk management' cultural approach in the industry, which served to emphasise specific types of incident. Whether a near miss reporting scheme should be confidential or anonymous depends on the goals of the system, the depth of information required and the way in which information is reported. The rewarding of reports may lead to biases in the data which would not otherwise be present; trivial reports may be made in order to claim the rewards, or fallacious reports may be generated in order to receive rewards. Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis System is confidential and 'blame free', and therefore staff can report not only technical failures, but also operator or human errors without fear of recrimination and discipline.
