Hi Lorraine

It's definitely allowed!

Might help in getting answers if you say what you are studying.

In terms of reference materials there are plenty of gurus (past and present) out there, some wishing to preacho Behavioural Safety, others questioning the level of focus given to "Unsafe Actions" rather than "Unsafe Conditions".

The Q you have been asked seems to have assumed that BS is the way to go, which to me seems to be jumping the gun a bit.

But perhaps the mock Q is worded such as to enable you to highlight not only the benefits but the downsides.

If you can find it the "Telos" report commissioned by BP is worth a read, as is the CSB report following the subsequent explosion at Texas City in 2005.

You could also read the 2017 Sustainability Report published by Vale (a multinational) check out the section on H&S with graphs showing the trend in reportable injury rates, but take time to do a search in the report for the word Fundao. Then google that (before the Sustainability Report) and Brumadinho (after that report was published).

Then you can ponder whether what an emphasis on BS audits does in terms of 

(1) Dealing with medium to long term occupational ill health risks

(2) Dealing with "low probability, high consequence" events such as BP Texas City (and numerous other examples)

(3) Environmenal impacts

Somewhere along your studies you have probably been introduced to the Accident Triangle possibly named after Heinrich (1931) or Bird (1969) but BST published a paper in 2012 showing that this doesn't really work when it comes to Serious Injuries and Fatalities (SIFs) and others have commented in similar terms. See for example White Paper - Determining SIF Exposure Potential (dekra-uk.co.uk)

Whilst there may be benefits in BS (and BS audits) you probably need to be wary about how you answer the Q unless, of course, those setting the exam expect you to answer on the basis of a particular school of thinking.

P

Hi Lorraine

Slightly lateral but this is what the US Securities and Exchange Commission had to say about Vale yesterday (Workers' [and others?] Memorial Day).

https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2022-72

Upping the ante of HSE issues in investors' minds.

P