Research Studies Involving Witness Reliability

1. Research Studies Involving Witness Reliability • How reliable are eye witness accounts of an activity? • Investigators often rely on information provided by eyewitnesses to determine the cause(s) of the accident and identify ways of preventing future mishaps. • However, the data on which accident investigators rely is error-prone.

2. Research and Eyewitnesses • There have been a number of research studies conducted which examine the reliability and validity of witnesses • Eyewitness memory for workplace accidents: Supervisors’ behavior compromises reports of occupational accidents • After a minor workplace accident, researchers measured recall and recognition memory for the accident. • The supervisor’s behavior influenced memory performance and productivity. • With direct implications for the product of occupational accident investigations, these results suggest that accident investigators should exercise caution when relying on eyewitness reports.

3. Research and Eyewitnesses • Research studies have also found differences in how the cause of the accident is perceived when questioning the injured person versus someone who witnessed the accident • This is referred to a “attributing the cause for the accident”

4. Fundamental Attribution Error • The fundamental attribution error involves placing a heavy emphasis on internal personality characteristics to explain someone's behavior in a given situation, rather than thinking about external situational factors. • The person got hurt in the accident because they were lazy, not because of a hazardous condition.

5. Actor-Observer Bias • This hypothesizes that “actors tend to attribute the causes of their behavior to stimuli inherent in the situation, while observers tend to attribute behavior to stable dispositions of the actor” • Witnesses more often tend to place the cause of the accident upon something the injured person was directly responsible for • Injured persons more often tend to place the cause of the injury upon an external factor that was out of their control

6. Self-Serving Bias • A self-serving bias occurs when people attribute their successes to internal or personal factors but attribute their failures to situational factors beyond their control.

7. Ultimate Attribution Error • Refers to a bias people commonly have towards members of an outgroup. • Specifically, they view negative acts committed by outgroup members as a stable trait of the outgroup, and view positive acts committed by outgroup members as exceptions to normal behavior.

8. Accident Investigation of a Safety Video Accident • The 52-year-old owner of a machinery and equipment training school violated the rule of following the safety rules while filming a forklift safety demonstration. • With the cameras rolling, he was thrown from the forklift cabin and crushed. • Subsequent investigation fingered the culprits responsible for the fatality: • Driver error and high speed over varied terrain coupled with an unused seat belt

9. Multilinear Events Sequencing • MES incorporates timelines into sequential diagrams, providing a scale that parallels the sequences of events to show the time relationships between events and the incident. • The method distinguishes between actors, actions and events.

10. Definitions • An event is one actor performing one action • Primary Events are directly tied to the accident sequence • Secondary Events are events that play a role in the accident but are not directly part of the accident sequence • Secondary Events are tied to the Accident Sequence of Events with vertical lines • Conditions differ from events insofar as they: • (a) describe states or circumstances rather than happenings or occurrences and • (b) are passive rather than active

11. Cause Mapping • Cause Mapping utilizes the fundamental principles of systems thinking to identify the basic cause and effect relationships of any problem. • Cause Mapping is a 3-step problem solving process for defining, analyzing and solving any type of problem. • The steps in Cause Mapping are: • Step 1: Problem: Outline the problem by asking who, what, when, and where? • Step 2: Analyze: Develop the Cause Map beginning with the unwanted outcome. Working to the right, identify the preceding cause(s) • Step 3: Solutions: Identify the best possible solutions.

12. Activity 5 • Perform a literature search and identify one accident scenario or use a work accident you are familiar with. • Remove all descriptors (ie: company name, employee names, etc) • Using the scenario, apply the Multilinear Events Sequencing technique to develop a causal map of the accident. • Complete the assignment and upload the activity to your instructor through Moodle by the due date in the course syllabus.