Time-pressed, professionals looking for practical guidance to shape their current or future safety programs should use this book. Pre-Accident Investigations: An Introduction to Organizational Safety helps to identify complex potential incidents before they take place. Based around the ’New View’ of human error, it offers established human performance theory in a highly practical context. Written in an engaging, conversational style, around several case studies, the book is grounded in reality, with examples with which anyone can identify. It is an ideal aid for senior safety executives who want to spread the safety message among their colleagues. It is also an excellent choice for course tutors looking for a narrative-led primer.
There's a lot out there written about the "new view" of human performance and safety, but this is the only book I've encountered that discusses how to introduce this kind of thinking into your organization. Conklin is an engaging writer, and this book has a lot of practical advice. It also does a good job at setting realistic expectations for a would-be organization transformer. Highly recommended.
If you've not read any of the material that backs this book (i.e. Dekker's "Field Guide to Understanding Human Error"; Hollnagel's "The ETTO Principle"; many others) this is a good place to dip your toes into Human Factors and organizational safety concepts. If you have read that material, Conklin provides very accessible ideas and recommendations on how to introduce these concepts into your company, along with setting reasonable expectations on how these concepts will gain traction.
A must for any safety professional who deserves to be called as such. This is a foundation book and cannot be read without further digging into other foundation ones.