The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems

Jan Hayes; Janice Wong; Christina Scott-Young; Sarah MASLEN

doi:10.1201/9781351174664-18

The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems

Jan Hayes, Janice Wong, Christina Scott-Young, Sarah MASLEN

Research output: A Conference proceeding or a Chapter in Book › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Previous research on aviation and health sectors has found that individual blame for small failures discourages incident reporting and so adversely impacts disaster prevention. This finding has widely influenced practice in organizations relying on engineers. Based on a survey of Australian engineers (n = 275) this paper examines how personal legal liability considerations impact on hazard reporting and other forms of knowledge sharing. We found that 48% of engineers are more likely to report hazards despite changes in societal expectations and the tendency to blame. Only 5% indicated that they were less likely to report hazards as a result of their liability concerns. We suggest that these findings are due to the nature of engineering work, where decision-making is distributed across time, place and people. In this environment, blame and responsibility are less attributable to individual actors. Equally, reporting a hazard may act to transfer responsibility and so limit one’s personal liability.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018
Editors	Stein Haugen, Anne Barros, Jan Erik Vinnem, Coen van Gulijk, Trond Kongsvik
Place of Publication	London, United Kingdom
Publisher	CRC Press
Chapter	18
Pages	143-150
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Electronic)	9781351174664
ISBN (Print)	9780815386827
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351174664-18
Publication status	Published - 2018
Event	European Safety and Reliability Conference 2018 - Trondheim, Norway Duration: 17 Jun 2018 → 21 Jun 2018

Conference

Conference	European Safety and Reliability Conference 2018
Abbreviated title	ESREL 2018
Country/Territory	Norway
City	Trondheim
Period	17/06/18 → 21/06/18

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10.1201/9781351174664-18

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781351174664/chapters/10.1201/9781351174664-18

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Hayes, J., Wong, J., Scott-Young, C., & MASLEN, S. (2018). The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems. In S. Haugen, A. Barros, J. E. Vinnem, C. van Gulijk, & T. Kongsvik (Eds.), Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018 (pp. 143-150). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351174664-18

Hayes, Jan ; Wong, Janice ; Scott-Young, Christina et al. / The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems. Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018. editor / Stein Haugen ; Anne Barros ; Jan Erik Vinnem ; Coen van Gulijk ; Trond Kongsvik. London, United Kingdom : CRC Press, 2018. pp. 143-150

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abstract = "Previous research on aviation and health sectors has found that individual blame for small failures discourages incident reporting and so adversely impacts disaster prevention. This finding has widely influenced practice in organizations relying on engineers. Based on a survey of Australian engineers (n = 275) this paper examines how personal legal liability considerations impact on hazard reporting and other forms of knowledge sharing. We found that 48% of engineers are more likely to report hazards despite changes in societal expectations and the tendency to blame. Only 5% indicated that they were less likely to report hazards as a result of their liability concerns. We suggest that these findings are due to the nature of engineering work, where decision-making is distributed across time, place and people. In this environment, blame and responsibility are less attributable to individual actors. Equally, reporting a hazard may act to transfer responsibility and so limit one{\textquoteright}s personal liability.",

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Hayes, J, Wong, J, Scott-Young, C & MASLEN, S 2018, The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems. in S Haugen, A Barros, JE Vinnem, C van Gulijk & T Kongsvik (eds), Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018. CRC Press, London, United Kingdom, pp. 143-150, European Safety and Reliability Conference 2018, Trondheim, Norway, 17/06/18. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781351174664-18

The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems. / Hayes, Jan; Wong, Janice; Scott-Young, Christina et al.
Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018. ed. / Stein Haugen; Anne Barros; Jan Erik Vinnem; Coen van Gulijk; Trond Kongsvik. London, United Kingdom: CRC Press, 2018. p. 143-150.

Research output: A Conference proceeding or a Chapter in Book › Conference contribution › peer-review

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Hayes J, Wong J, Scott-Young C, MASLEN S. The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems. In Haugen S, Barros A, Vinnem JE, van Gulijk C, Kongsvik T, editors, Safety and Reliability - Safe Societies in a Changing World: Proceedings of the 28th International European Safety and Reliability Conference, ESREL 2018. London, United Kingdom: CRC Press. 2018. p. 143-150 doi: 10.1201/9781351174664-18

The impact of personal liability concerns on incident reporting in engineered systems

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