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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9

Sensemaking is about how people make sense of situations. When faced with problems, people construct meaning. This constructive process plays a key role in the ultimate understanding that is developed. The meaning of a situation is both created and…
Author(s): Karl E. Weick
Year Published:

Endsley examines the interrelation between situation awareness and individual and environmental factors. Endsley argues that situation awareness is more than a person just being aware of the situation. Rather, it is a complex understanding of the…
Author(s): Mica Endsley
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Aviation human factors investigations have typically blamed individual behavior as the primary cause of serious work accidents. However, this book argues that organizations are responsible for two aspects that contribute to work related accidents: 1…
Author(s): Daniel E. Maurino, James Reason, Neil Johnston, Rob B. Lee
Year Published:

I was disappointed with the OSHA report of the South Canyon Fire. My feelings are not the result of any need to defend my agency (USDA Forest Service). In another time and place, I thought the OSHA report following the death of Bill Martin (a…
Author(s): James M. Saveland
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Stress, fear, and panic predictably lead to the collapse of clear thinking and organizational structure. While these psychological and social processes have been well studied by the military and the aircraft industry (Cockpit Resource Management) (…
Author(s): Ted Putnam
Year Published:

This article is a detailed reconstruction of firefighter behavior and personal protective equipment use on the South Canyon Fire.  Putnam reveals two failures that contributed to the deaths of 14 firefighters.  First, many firefighters held onto…
Author(s): Ted Putnam
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It has become increasingly clear that wildland firefighters are experiencing collapses in decisionmaking and organizational structure when conditions on the fireline become life-threatening. Since 1990 wildland fire agencies have lost 23 people who…
Author(s): Ted Putnam
Year Published:

This document is a letter to Jack Ward Thomas, Chief of Forest Service, from Joseph A. Dear, Assistant Secretary OSHA, outlining the findings of the Occupational Safety and Health Adminstration's investigation of the South Canyon fire, February 8,…
Author(s): Joseph A. Dear
Year Published:

Programs aimed at enhancing safety by addressing the proximate cause of an accident only consider a small portion of the safety picture. Merely addressing the proximate cause fails to consider that the system either directly or indirectly trains,…
Author(s): Curt Braun
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