You will Write a Review of one Published Research Paper Which Have Been Provided: Research Methods Literature Review, NUS, Singapore

For this task, you will write a review of one published research paper which have been provided. The softcopy pdf can also be accessed via MDIS Blackboard. The aim is, first to identify the key features of the paper, and then to give an opinion on its value.

The answer to this question should not exceed 700 words, although it may be possible to get good marks for a well-written answer which is significantly shorter than this.

If you compare the paper with others or refer to research methods texts, you should of course reference these sources in the normal way.

This task accounts for ⅓ of the marks for Assignment 1 (Part 1) (15% overall
weightage marks for UTRP module) of 100 marks. The marks will be allocated
according to the following table.

UK rail workers’ perceptions of accident risk factors: An exploratory study

1. Introduction

The UK Network Rail workforce safety statistics for the five years preceding, and including 2013/2014, show that while fatal worker injury rates have remained consistently low with three deaths in both 2009/10 and 2013/14, major injuries have risen over this period, from 96 to 122, and lost time injuries have risen from 146 in 2009/10 to 310 in 2013/14 (Network Rail, 2014).

In addition to the pain and suffering caused, the financial cost of workplace injuries and illness is high for both individuals and for companies, estimated at £14.3 billion in 2013/14, of which workplace injuries (including deaths) cost £4.9 billion (HSE, 2015).

Network Rail has identified three principal safety risks for rail workers; being hit by a train, on-track plant, or a road-rail vehicle; electrocution from overhead power lines or conductor rails; and trips and falls. The seriousness of these risks alongside injury rates consistently above zero provides a clear rationale for further research to identify, examine and understand the factors that influence accident risk in railway work.

Accident prediction is complex, largely due to the number of potential contributing factors. Since the early 1990’s safety-critical industries (including healthcare and aviation) have adopted a “systems” approach to safety management (Reason, 1995).

This approach is important because it recognizes that although frontline employees are prone to human error, this is promoted or permitted by system features such as environmental factors, operator condition, personnel factors, unsafe supervision, and wider organizational influences (Wiegmann and Shappell, 2003).

In a number of high-risk domains, including healthcare, specific frameworks for studying work systems have been proposed (e.g. System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety, Carayon, et al., 2006; Yorkshire Contributory Factors Framework, Lawton, et al., 2012b).