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Resilience Engineering, Gaps and Prescription of Safe Work Method Statements Part 1: The View of Organisational Outsiders

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Advances in Safety Management and Human Factors

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 491))

Abstract

The construction industry is frequently cited for its poor safety performance. In spite of this, many countries continue to rely on contemporary, prescriptive approaches to improve performance in the sector. In Australia, one such approach, Safe Work Method Statements (SWIMS), have been mandated in construction work. However, there is limited empirical research on SWIMS, so their ability to improve health and safety is largely unknown. This is a significant gap in our knowledge. Recent research suggests that Resilience Engineering (RE), which is an innovation in organisational health and safety management, offers a promising approach, by understanding the gap between work as imagined and work as performed. SWIMS provide a practical tool by which such a gap can be investigated in construction settings. Recent research also suggests that organisations are part of a broader socio-technical system. As such, gaining a view of the different elements of the system is an important first step towards developing an understanding of the role SWIMS play in health and safety risk management. This paper first describes the socio-technical system that constitute construction work; followed by an exploration of the meaning SWIMS as ascribed by the external agencies as the first ‘outsider’ of this system. It is based on an analysis of data collected as part of a larger PhD study of the prescription and practice of SWMS in the Australian construction industry.

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Acknowledgments

The work reported in this paper is part of the author’s PhD research project, and which was supported through an Australian Postgraduate Award 2010–2012. The author is greatly indebted to the regulator and associations, and the individuals who voluntarily participated in this research.

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  1. School of Health Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Manikam Pillay

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  1. Manikam Pillay
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Correspondence to Manikam Pillay .

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  1. University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Pedro Arezes

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Pillay, M. (2016). Resilience Engineering, Gaps and Prescription of Safe Work Method Statements Part 1: The View of Organisational Outsiders. In: Arezes, P. (eds) Advances in Safety Management and Human Factors. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 491. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41929-9_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41929-9_25

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-41929-9

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