Process versus personal accidents within sociotechnical systems: Loss of control of process versus personal energy?

Abstract

Process safety and personal safety are often distinguished in literature and practice despite an acknowledged advantage in their integration. Degree of damage and type of hazard are advanced as factors that distinguish process and personal accidents. A damage production model based on a hazard systematically characterised by an energy is proposed. This distinguishes energies external to the victim and specific to process operation from energy related to the victim's movements. This development is based on six accident cases, of which three are consistent with common representations of a process accident and three of a personal accident. They are identified in the sea fishing and hospital sectors. This ensures broad coverage of different hazard types and resulting damage. The proposed model is capable of formalising the coexistence of hazards (i.e. energies) that are fundamentally different. It highlights different kind of energies to be controlled by a sociotechnical system. Our model also reveals practical difficulties of protecting an exposed target in relation to the type of energy causing damage. It is a tool useful for integrating control of process and personal energies, combining the aims adopted for managing process and personal safety.