Essays on Accident Investigation

Thunderbird Crash Colorado Springs (2nd June, 2016)

Introduction A Thunderbird jet F-16CJ, tail number 92-3890 was crashed on 2nd June 2016 at 1 pm local time after the pilot of the jet got ejected at approximately 5 miles south of Peterson AFB (Air Force Base). The Jet's pilot ejected safely at 13:00L and got some minor injuries but no other casualties and damage to the property of the civilians were reported. Exactly 8 seconds after the pilot got ejected from the aircraft, it impacted the ground. The aircraft having the value of US dollars 29,466,037 was destroyed in the accident which was a huge ...

Abstract

The Air transport industry is growing globally and specifically in the Asia-Pacific region as the demand for air transport services grows and infrastructural development continues. Singapore has emerged as an important air transport hub in the Asia-Pacific region owing to its strategic geographical location, developed infrastructure, connectivity to other regions of the world, and its well-defined regulatory environment. Singapore is a major air transport hub as it is strategically located in the Strait of Malacca which puts it at the crossroads of important air routes, particularly between major economic blocs such as Japan and Europe. The emergence of Singapore ...

Pilot Medical Privacy Laws and Germanwings Flight Crash

The crash of Germanwings flight 9525 en route from Barcelona-El Prat Airport in Spain to Dusseldorf Airport in Germany, which caused the death of 144 passengers and 6 crew members, is considered to be one of the grimmest aircraft crashes in European flight history. The sad reality of this event was that this mishap was caused by the deliberate attempts of a deranged co-pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who was being treated for suicidal tendencies and was also declared “unfit for work” by his doctor. The initial investigations done by the BEA (French Land Transport Accident Investigation Bureau) revealed that the ...

Introduction

Advancing in the global economy implies adjusting to increased competition, which requires higher productivity. Yet, increased productivity occurs when the occupational environment offers safe and pleasant working conditions. Contrarily, working environment highly exposed to occupational risks and hazard that may cause accidents, illness and even death lose their competitiveness at the cause of absenteeism, employees’ insurance expenditures orpotential trials (Stranks, 2005).

Statistics conducted by International Labour Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations (UN) agree in their estimations that there are 279 million occupational accidents and 160 million diseases associated with the working ...

That accidents happen in the workplace because of negligible acts by the company and its employees is without a doubt. However, sometimes accidents are purely unpredictable and can happen even in the most careful of setups. Research has indicated that fatigue is one of the main causes of catastrophes that occur in the workplace. When an individual is fatigued, they are more likely to cause injuries because their thinking ability is considerably reduced. It results from the lack of sleep or too much workload. Fatigue makes an employee vulnerable to dangerous injuries around the office (Biddle, 2009). Research has indicated ...

Executive Summary

Accident investigation is aimed to determine the root causes of the accident, to estimate its cost effects, and also to comply to government safety regulations. Safety practitioners have to use a scientific method for this. There are five simple steps in accident investigation: (1) collecting information, (2) reviewing information, (3) determining the causes, (4) recommending actions, and (5) evaluating the effectiveness of the actions. It starts with collection of evidence to analyze the problem better. Data is reviewed for authenticity and for differences. Determining the causes is best performed using the root cause analysis (RCA). Root cause analysis integrates using ...

Occupational risk factors for shoulder pain: a systematic review by Daniëlle A. W. M. van der Windt, Elaine Thomas, Daniel P. Pope, Andrea F de Winter, Gary J. Macfarlane, Lex M. Bouter, Alan J. Silman

Summary of the Article

The article entitled “Occupational risk factors for shoulder pain: a systematic review” written by van der Windt, Thomas, Pope, de Winter, Macfarlane, Bouter, and Silman presented results of a study with reportedly aimed to determine risk factors within the work setting that are potentially associated with shoulder pain. The authors initially presented a brief overview of the common incidence for shoulder pain in the occupational setting; where ...

- What aspects of NASA practice revealed in the aftermath of the Columbia disaster suggest that the changes sought in the aftermath of the Challenger disaster were not sustained?

NASA acted to stress more on safety and accordingly implement certain organizational changes with respect to maintaining reliability, safety, quality assurance and management. However, the Columbia disaster suggested that change was not implemented in the organization. The recommendations of the board during the Challenger disaster revealed an autocratic leadership held by Marshall and similar autocratic styles still existed which lead to the Columbia disaster. Despite knowing the possible catastrophic effects, ...

Abstract

The oil and gas industry is a risky business which has witnessed its fair share of accidents in the recent times with the North Sea Alpha Piper Accident which occurred in 1988 being one of the worst accidents. Human error has been recognized as one of the main contributing factors that have led to accidents in the oil and gas industry. The blow out at the Macondo oil rig was the result of the interaction of technical conditions and human failures/ errors. In fact, statistics indicate that about 83.70% of all offshore accidents occur as a result of human error. Accidents ...

CAIB Recommendations

Introduction Columbia accident investigation board is an organ that was chosen by the NASA to find out the accident involved by the space shuttle Columbia. According to the investigation, it was found out that the accident occurred as a result of technical problems. It was found that foam insulating the tank broke away and damaged one of the wings. The board further investigates about the root cause of the technical hitch. It was realized that there had been several cases of accident occurring under the same circumstances. However, the management has been reluctant in addressing the issue because most ...