[SystemSafety] Comparison of Confidential vs Non-Confidential Reporting Systems

[Paul Sherwood]

Hi Mike,
this is question is of particular interest to me, since I'm of the view 
that there's nowhere near enough public information about how 
engineering for safety is done, or how successful we are at it. 
Particularly in the technical industries I get the sense that folks are 
often huddled together under under the blankets of 
non-disclosure-agreements and impenetrable standards. I'm attempting to 
change that in a small way and clearly others on this list are actively 
contributing to build up the body of public knowledge on the topic, both 
here and elsewhere.

In response to your question, as far as I can tell no-one else has 
mentioned what happens with regard to maritime accidents, so I hope that 
the following will be of interest. As I understand it the general 
principle under Admiralty Law [1] is that data is collected and made 
public based on voluntary submissions. This data has been collected over 
a very long period of time, so if someone were interested in a research 
project to undertake a comparison, the MAIB reports [2] would be a 
relevant and useful input. The most recent digest publication is at [3]

br
Paul

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_law
[2] https://www.gov.uk/maib-reports
[2] 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/744072/2018_-_SD2_-_MAIB_Safety_Digest.pdf

On 2018-10-17 13:49, Mike Rothon wrote:
> I am looking for some recommended reading on the respective merits of
> confidential and non-confidential (open?) reporting systems with
> respect to 'safety events'.
> 
> Aviation is one sector that has generally embraced the confidential
> reporting approach, whilst anecdotally I hear that it isn't (yet) used
> so widely in the medical sector.
> 
> In general, I am trying to understand why it is considered to be
> beneficial for aviation, but not necessarily elsewhere.
> 
> For example, is it just a natural human desire to know 'who done it'
> [sic] that prevents wider adoption, or does the fear of being named
> and shamed encourage people to behave more 'safety consciously'?
> 
> I have made the usual Google search, but with surprisingly few results.
> 
> Thanks.......................Mike
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