Why and how accidents happen and what we can do to stop them will be the theme of an upcoming safety seminar hosted by the USC Accident Research Centre (USCAR).
To be held on Tuesday 17 February at the University of the Sunshine Coast Innovation Centre, the seminar’s list of speakers features leading authorities on a range of safety areas, including workplace safety.
USCAR Director Professor Paul Salmon said the seminar will focus on research into, “…the interaction between people, technology and the environment and what can go wrong.”
“USCAR’s mission is to understand why accidents happen and work out how best to prevent them,” he said. “Our research seeks to inform the design of systems that optimise human performance and safety and remove potential problems.
“When we use the terms ‘systems’, we don’t just mean technology. We could be talking about footpath design for pedestrians, the role of referees and players in sport or accidents in the home.
“My presentation at the forum will be about investigating aeroplane crashes and how you need to look at an overall systems awareness and why that fails. In the case of the Air France crash a few years ago, the pitot tubes froze and threw out the autopilot, but the plane couldn’t tell the pilots what was wrong so they didn’t react appropriately.
“So, if you take a systems approach, you can fully understand the accident and redesign the system to prevent it, whereas if you took an individual view you would blame the pilots – little changes moving forward. The same accident will happen again, just with different pilots.”
For more information and the full program visit the University of the Sunshine Coast Innovation Centre website
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