The Leading Edge: A Systems Thinking Methodology for Assessing Safety Leadership

Abstract

Leadership is progressively being recognized as a key factor in supporting successful performance across a range of domains. This is particularly important when considered within the context of safety, with the now widespread acceptance that safety is an emergent property of overall work systems. As such, the decisions and actions that characterize safety leadership thus become important emergent properties in the prevention of incidents, which should be considered within the context of the broader organizational system and not merely constrained to understanding events or conditions that shape performance at the ‘sharp end’. This paper presents a first-of-its-kind test application of a methodological approach, underpinned by systems thinking, to the examination of safety leadership. A case study incident is examined using the Critical Decision Method, Rasmussen's Risk Management Framework and corresponding Accimap method to identify safety leadership decisions and actions, and their contribution to the incidents important safe outcome (no injuries or fatalities were incurred). The merits of the methodological approach utilized are discussed.