An integrative literature review: What are the barriers that stop organisations from learning the lessons highlighted in serious incident investigations?

Abstract

It has been suggested that we have moved into an adaptive age of safety and that one of the key accident prevention strategies in this age is that of ‘organisational learning’. Effective safety management in this age requires organisations to investigate and learn from (major/serious) incidents. This paper aims to outline some of the most significant barriers to organisational learning following major events, through an integrative review, by reviewing the current literature around incident reporting. This review identified five key themes in the published literature, and a gap between knowledge and actual practice in industry. As a community of safety professionals there is much we can do to close this gap, through empirical studies aimed to further understanding and break down some of these learning barriers.