Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems
How do communications and decisions impact the safety of sociotechnical systems? This paper frames this question in the context of a dynamic system of nested sub-systems. Communications are related to the construct of observability (i.e., how components integrate information to assess the state with...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division
2016
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103019 |
| _version_ | 1826203712872251392 |
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| author | Flach, John M. Carroll, John Stephen Dainoff, Marvin J. Hamilton, W. Ian |
| author_facet | Flach, John M. Carroll, John Stephen Dainoff, Marvin J. Hamilton, W. Ian |
| author_sort | Flach, John M. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | How do communications and decisions impact the safety of sociotechnical systems? This paper frames this question in the context of a dynamic system of nested sub-systems. Communications are related to the construct of observability (i.e., how components integrate information to assess the state with respect to local and global constraints). Decisions are related to the construct of controllability (i.e., how component sub-systems act to meet local and global safety goals). The safety dynamics of sociotechnical systems are evaluated as a function of the coupling between observability and controllability across multiple closed-loop components. Two very different domains (nuclear power and the limited service food industry) provide examples to illustrate how this framework might be applied. While the dynamical systems framework does not offer simple prescriptions for achieving safety, it does provide guides for exploring specific systems to consider the potential fit between organisational structures and work demands, and for generalizing across different systems regarding how safety can be managed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:41:52Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/103019 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T12:41:52Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1030192019-04-10T09:29:33Z Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems Flach, John M. Carroll, John Stephen Dainoff, Marvin J. Hamilton, W. Ian How do communications and decisions impact the safety of sociotechnical systems? This paper frames this question in the context of a dynamic system of nested sub-systems. Communications are related to the construct of observability (i.e., how components integrate information to assess the state with respect to local and global constraints). Decisions are related to the construct of controllability (i.e., how component sub-systems act to meet local and global safety goals). The safety dynamics of sociotechnical systems are evaluated as a function of the coupling between observability and controllability across multiple closed-loop components. Two very different domains (nuclear power and the limited service food industry) provide examples to illustrate how this framework might be applied. While the dynamical systems framework does not offer simple prescriptions for achieving safety, it does provide guides for exploring specific systems to consider the potential fit between organisational structures and work demands, and for generalizing across different systems regarding how safety can be managed. 2016-06-06T23:16:34Z 2016-06-06T23:16:34Z 2014-09 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103019 en_US ESD Working Papers;ESD-WP-2014-26 application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division |
| spellingShingle | Flach, John M. Carroll, John Stephen Dainoff, Marvin J. Hamilton, W. Ian Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title | Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title_full | Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title_fullStr | Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title_short | Striving for Safety: Communicating and Deciding in Sociotechnical Systems |
| title_sort | striving for safety communicating and deciding in sociotechnical systems |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/103019 |
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