Rank: Forum user
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After a quick answer here just writing an article for the company newsletter and I need an example of an accident involving the domino theory chain of events.
Thanks in advance
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Rank: Forum user
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Firestar
Every accident in history is a domino effect or a James Reason Swiss cheese"
Think of the domino's as barriers to safety so as an example you have the following (not exhaustive) (there are lots more than this)
Induction Orientation On the job/task training risk assessment method statement SWP pre job brief Supervision Engineering control Audit regime
Therefore we will take an imaginary accident where some one got their fingers trapped in say "a lathe" We then equate each of the line item barriers as a domino with a weakness in the SMS. At every point there is a weakness that is a contributary factor of the accident and thus a domino falls - the accident event is a series of dominos falling one after another until the outcome event materialises (accident resulting in injury)
The more robust the dominos (parts of the SMS [SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM]) the less likely the domino is to fall.
The dominos falling in this scenario are in brackets
Induction Orientation [poor quality induction] On the job/task training [none given] risk assessment [hazards missed within the assessment or controls not implemented] method statement SWP [items missed off the explanation of risk] pre job brief [not given] Supervision [poorly trained] Engineering control [guard missing] Audit regime [focus on systems and not work place operations]
I would suggest you take an accident within the organisation you work for and examine which barriers failed [domino's fell] as this will be a much better way of highlighting both the domino effect and weaknesses in your own SMS.
Dont forget James Reason notes that the last barrier or in this case domino is lady luck even where the probability distribution function leans to a higher propensity for the incident to happen than not.
Hope this helps
Martin
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Rank: Forum user
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PS
That is a short answer - lots of people make a living writing full publications on this theory.
Martin
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Rank: Forum user
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Thanks and sorry for the misunderstanding, the article is only small, as part of a monthly A4 internal newsletter. I just needed an accident/disaster to underline the importance and possible consequences.
The IT system I use at work is a nightmare and would only let me get web pages directly and I couldn’t get any of the search engines to work hence my post. I have now got it working and used the Piper Alpha as an example.
Like you pointed out, the short answer, I have to make it light and not too deep but hopefully gets the point across.
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Rank: Super forum user
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Firestar, there are many examples of the domino theory (Swiss cheese) and usually the bigger the disaster the greater the latent failures. However, sometimes a simple example is the best, one which people can empathise with. Can't think on one though!
Seriously, you could probably relate to quite a few yourself. A couple stick out in my mind. First, the capsizing of the Herald of Free Enterprise in Zeebrugge Harbour, where the Assistant Bosan failed to close the bow doors, Captain was unaware, it was common practice to depart port with the bow doors open etc. Second, and slightly humorous is one from my own industry, where the station assistant gave the 'right' to the train guard, who in turn closed the doors and sent a signal to depart to the driver, driver left the platform and wooosh...station starter was at danger (red) - but no one had noticed! Good example of a concatenation of human error.
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Rank: Forum user
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Just what I was thinking and why I used an old joke to hopefully demonstrate the point. Joke runs a bit like this: Person slips on spilt liquid and angrily picks up the knocked over container. Boss walks in and does the same, person states “I’ve just done that!” And boss fires him. Then a quick explanation of the principles and finishing with a reference to a real disaster due to a chain of events. Well that was the general idea and slightly longer of course. Like you have identified, the Herald would also have been a good example to use but I needed the details to make the point. Anyway the article has been submitted, so job done and thank you for your replies.
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Rank: Super forum user
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People relate better to things that have happened close to them / to them so using an 'in-house' accident/loss event as against an external event is a very good way to get the message across - using an external high profile example is the lead-in to the 'home' event
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Rank: Forum user
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Rather than use an overly simplistic model, such as the domino model, use a multi-factorial model that shows that the activity, environment and management contribute play their part in causing accidents.
Regards
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Rank: Super forum user
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I stongy agree with Adrian. Domino theory isn't a good representation of reality, as it suggests that if any single domino is removed the event won't happen. In reality there are lots of posssible event sequences, as in Reason's swiss cheese (several holes in each layer, and they move around over time!). OSH professionals should be using accurate models to explain key issues to others.
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Rank: Forum user
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You’ll get no argument from me as I fully understand and agree. However, I have to keep my word count to about 200, which as you can imagine is very restrictive and always a challenge. It has to be interesting and light, just something to keep everyone thinking. It’s just a small part of trying to improve the culture. I’m already pondering May’s newsletter subject.
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