The development of safety indicators represents an integral part of any safety management process. Safety indicators are generally classified as leading or lagging, respectively whether they are active (providing feedback on performance before an accident or incident); or reactive measurements (identifying and reporting on incidents to identify weaknesses and failures).
Leading indicators have been largely addressed as early warning instruments crucial to assess the potential for either safety events (accidents, incidents), or system’s resilience, i.e. the ability of a system to manage normal and abnormal situations in order to succeed at guaranteeing acceptable performance.
This research presents a methodological framework for the development of specific leading indicators, following the resilience early warning indicator (REWI) method1. This latter aims at supporting the identification of leading indicators, through a structured framework consisting of eight categories - the so-called specific contributing success factors (CSFs) - and for each one, a set of issues contributing to the fulfilment of the CSF itself, further linked to a series of indicators. The REWI method then recommends adapting, contextualizing and verifying the need to add other dimensions, based on the features of the specific system being analysed. Once defined the set of indicators relevant for the analysis, the data gathering process is traditionally managed by open-ended interviews or surveys, which could easily become largely resource-expensive in case of large processes.
In this study, we will thus explore the use of gamification as a methodology for data gathering to assess the REWIs. The gamification approach will propose an engaging and rewarding game for employees, useful for the data gathering process. Abandoning traditional tick-box surveys, the gamification approach is intended to favour workers’ engagement in workplace safety and, more in general, to overcome psychological barriers to its participation. The approach will be preliminarily tested in a case study within chemical industry. In particular, the safety-critical sector of ammonia production will be addressed, with the purpose to promote and improve its resilience towards unwanted events.
1 Øien, K., Massaiu, S., Tinmannsvik, R. K., F. Størseth (2010). Development of Early Warning Indicators based on resilience Engineering. PSAM 2010, Seattle (USA).