In a previous paper, Amyotte et al.15
have demonstrated that three of Hopkins’
four safety subcultures (reporting,
just and learning) have an explicit link
to the PSM element of incident investigation.
With respect to the subject of
the current paper, a company’s commitment
to just and reporting cultures
will ultimately be expressed in the
number of dust explosion incidents
that are reported. In the spirit of a
leading indicator, it would be important
to also measure the number of
near-miss and at-risk behaviour
reports involving combustible powders.
The outputs of reporting and
investigating will manifest themselves
as a measure of commitment to a learning
culture; lessons learned is a key
phrase in the industrial lexicon. The
idea of learning from experience
extends beyond the realm of incident
investigation and into other safety
management system elements (e.g.,
process risk management, management
of change, and enhancement of
process safety knowledge).