Laboratory accidents in academia: An insident-report safety knowledge transfer model

Abstract

Accidents in academia, although seldom reported, happen all the time due to the nature of the materials academic institutions have to work with in their research projects. The Incident Report-Based Safety Knowledge Transfer (IRSKT) model we advocated in this paper identifies the elements neccessary for social systems in academia to extract, disseminate and use new safety knowledge emanating from incident reports. The purpose of the paper is to understand how developments in systems thinking and materiality of knowledge can influence understanding of safety knowledge transfer (SKT); and to propose a new systems-based safety knowledge transfer model founded on incident reports. The paper is a review of the literature on safety knowledge transfer, materiality of knowledge and systems thinking; leading to the proposal of a new SKT paradigm. The paper shows that the IRSKT model is well suited to analyzing safety knowledge transfer in both complex and small-scale systems in academia. The paper argues that in academic institutions where safety of students and researchers is important, the ability to extract knowledge from incidents reports — which is an assesible and ready estimate of safety situations in organizations - is vital for establishing safe laboratories and learning environments. The capacity for effective exchange and utilization of safety information inherent in incident reports by employees, equipment manufacturers, professional bodies and government agencies as reflected in IRSKT will inform the decisions to build in safety in machinery, better safety rules, effective safety campaigns and enhance safety conscious behaviours in academia.