<p>Organizational safety culture can be described as the shared behaviors, beliefs, attitudes and values regarding organizational safety goals, functions and procedures. Institutional memory plays a key part in determining organizational safety culture and its change over time. While it may be understood that accidents cannot be simply blamed on those directly at fault, the pervasive nature of organizational safety culture may not be fully understood. This paper discusses the pivotal role of institution memory in setting cultural norms and priorities that either bolster or hinder safety. This paper also reviews and discusses key accidents that have occurred, in the United States and elsewhere institutional memory, training, and organizational culture has played a role and/or was discussed as part of the accident investigation process. These accidents include the January 4, 1987 collision between Amtrak and Conrail trains, in Chase, Maryland, the collision of the Polle to Waterloo train into the rear of the Basingstoke train southwest of Clapham Junction Station, in London, on December 12, 1988; the August 15, 2017 Waterloo accident in London; and the series of accidents at MetroNorth Rail Road between 2013 and 2014. These accidents have common themes that will be discussed and analyzed as part of this paper.</p>

Institutional Memory, Training and Organizational Safety Culture

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/JRC/JRC2021/volume/84775

2021 Joint Rail Conference (JRC2021)

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