Safety performance evaluation models: a review

Abstract

Purpose

Managing a safety programme and ensuring that change is in accordance with suitable performance measures requires continuing improvement in the support of analytical power and empirical information. This paper aims to consider different approaches and modeling efforts on safety performance evaluation.

Design/methodology/approach

Review and synthesis of literature.

Findings

Ten major safety performance evaluation approaches are identified including expectation function, risk assessment, statistical quality control, price deflation, engineering economic factor, system analysis, artificial intelligence, and systems theory. Based on the approaches, quantitative and qualitative models have been proposed. The quantitative models use measuring indicators such as frequency, severity, percentages, relative weight and economic gains/loss of safety programme. However, qualitative models employ hazard analysis and hazard operability.

Research limitations/implications

Several research questions remain to be answered in order to completely improve and optimize the impact of these provisional safety performance measures.

Originality/value

This study offers a set of interesting lessons for academics, industry and safety practitioners by providing guidelines that will assist in ensuring a correct focus to select an appropriate safety performance evaluation model.

Citation

Adebiyi, K.A., Charles‐Owaba, O.E. and Waheed, M.A. (2007), "Safety performance evaluation models: a review", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 178-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653560710739504