The Focus on Determining Blame

Assigning blame is necessary to learn from and prevent accidents or 

Research data validates this hypothesis. Various studies have found the selection of a cause (s) depends on characteristics of the victim and of the analyst (e.g., hierarchical status, degree of involvement, and job satisfaction) as well as on the relationships between the victim and the analyst and on the severity of the accident [112]. 

There even seem to be differences in causal attribution between accidents and incidents Accident investigation data on near-miss (incident) reporting suggest that causes for these events are mainly attributed to technical deviations while similar events that result in losses are more often blamed on operator error [62,100]. 

Causal identification may also be influenced by the data collection methods. Data are usually collected in the form of textual descriptions of the sequence of events of the accident, which, as we have seen, tend to concentrate on obvious conditions or events closely preceding the accident in time and tend to leave out less obvious or indirect events and factors. There is no simple solution to this inherent bias On one hand, report forms that do not specifically ask for nonproximal factors often do not ehdt them while, on the other hand, more directive report forms that do request particular information may limit the categories or conditions considered [101]. 

A final comphcation is that human actions always involve some interpretation of the person s goals and motives. The individuals involved may be unaware of their actual goals and motivation or may be subject to various types of pressures to reinterpret their actions. Explanations by acddent analysts after the fact may be influenced by their own mental models or additional goals and pressures. 

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