Near-Miss Management
PI/Project Contact: Ulku Oktem
Other faculty involved:
Warren D. Seider,
Dept. of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
University of Pennsylvania
Project description:
Near-Misses are small incidents which can help identify and mitigate potential problems and systemic risks. The Near-Miss Project, which started in 2000, initially focused on understanding how such information can help reduce operational risks related to safety, health and environment in chemical industry. Based on over 100 interviews at 20 industrial sites of five Fortune 500 corporations and further revisions of the findings through workshops an eight step process was identified for an effective Near-miss program at an industrial site.
Since then, we extended the concept to address operational risk management issues in financial institutions as an alternative to capital allocation as suggested by Basel Accord.
Current research efforts are focused on (a) developing near-miss mathematical models, including modeling the impact of management's behavior, to predict accident potentials in chemical industry, (b) understanding the role of management in the effectiveness of implementing near-miss systems by conducting focus groups, survey, and interviews in different chemical manufacturing sites.
Analysis of Management Actions, Human Behavior, and Process Reliability in Chemical Plants,
PART I: Impact of Management Actions, July 2007
Analysis of Management Actions, Human Behavior, and Process Reliability in Chemical Plants,
PART II: Near-Miss Management System Selection, July 2007
Near-Miss Incident Management Systems in the Chemical Process Industry,
Risk Analysis. 23 (2003); 445-459
The Near-Miss Management of Operational Risk, The Journal of Risk and Finance, Fall 2002