Learning from successful operations – opportunities, challenges and a paradox

Abstract Learning from successful operations has received less attention than learning from accidents and near misses, both among practitioners and researchers. The article reports intermediate results from a project aimed at reducing this gap. We discuss (1) criteria to identify an operation as successful with regard to safety, (2) implications concerning successful operations that can be derived from current organizational theories of safety, (3) how learning from successful operations can take place in practice and (4) challenges related to learning from successful operations. The article is based on qualitative interviews with personnel in two drilling companies, document studies, observations on an offshore drilling rig, observations in a well-control simulator, and from a workshop in an oil company. Learning from successful operations can take place either through spontaneous mechanisms or through mechanisms deliberately put in place by management. We have identified several challenges related to learning from successful operations.