LEARNING from incidents (LFI) is the process by which important lessons are learned from previous accidents, incidents and near misses. It plays a vital role in developing safe systems and working practices in safety-critical sectors. In the first article of this two-part series, best practices were explored from the energy sector when learning from incidents. However, one advantage that the energy sector and many other high-risk industries tend to have over other sectors is predictability. Unexpected events may occur in energy companies, but in most cases, at the start of their day a worker knows roughly what they will be doing and the potential issues that might arise. If there are any issues, engineers can examine the equipment to find likely causes, and, in extreme cases, all work can be stopped until it is safe to proceed. It is ambitious, but 'goal zero', ie zero fatalities or injuries, is a potentially achievable and common target for the sector.
展开▼
