Typographical error on page 148
Part way down this page is number 3 in the list. The text here should say “what ability does the system have to prevent it from failing?”, not “falling”
Author Archive: Derek Viner
Theme park tragedies, safety management systems and the role of the regulator
There has been a number of recent theme park Events at the time of writing this. Three examples are: Alton Towers, UK (June 2016) Sixteen people were injured when an occupied carriage of a roller coaster ride collided with a…
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A reference to a non-existent Table on Page 200
The top line of page 200 includes the text … (see Table 7.4) …. This sentence is about “the categorisation of risk control standards as controls on physical and environmental risks factors, controls over the way in which work is…
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DES Access Mechanisms – examples of Table 12.1
Table 12.1 is a listing of possible mechanisms for whole body or part body access into the damaging energy space of an energy source external to the human body. Here are a few examples from my experience (over the years…
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The abuse of Risk Evaluation
In the book I observe “that community groups are especially vulnerable to this misuse of Risk evaluation when considering plans for the annual fete, an outing into the woods or whatever.” I’ve recently seen more evidence of this, perhaps because something drew it…
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A short (and personal) history of the rise (and hoped-for fall) of the risk matrix
In 1979 the first students were admitted into a post graduate course entitled Occupational Hazard Management run by the then Ballarat College of Advanced Education in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (now Federation University). I had been given the job of designing…
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Examples and discussion on Class A control measures in the EDM
Table 7.1 defines a number of different categories of control measures of the Class A type (controls over the process leading to damage) in the Energy Damage Model. These categories are concerned with the rationale for the choice of control…
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Managing Risk Strategically
With a nod to David Cameron, ex Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who succinctly said what he thought of the election of Jean-Claude Juncker to the position of President of the European Commission, the risk matrix is the wrong…
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Cause and control
Accident theory places such an emphasis on the idea of ’cause’ that it is often hard for people to understand the relative insignificance of this concept. Heinrich understood that while one thing may ’cause’ an ‘accident’ something else altogether might…
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Experiences teaching risk science at university
I have been teaching the three basics of risk science for a long time now: you have to have energy for damage to occur; the process of damage takes some time and this allows us to understand the anatomy of…
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