Safety management within Task Force Uruzgan: A report of working with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Safety management within Task Force Uruzgan: A report of working with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Moorkamp, M.
Kramer, E.H.
Van Gulijk, C.
Ale, B.J.M.

Technology, Policy and Management

Values and Technology

2013-09-29

In this paper we present a conceptualization of safety management that is based on the cybernetic concepts of “controllability” and “control capacity”. In particular, we explore what this conceptualization means for safety management of the Dutch Army’s UAV unit that was part of Task Force Uruzgan (TFU) in the years 2006–2007 and 2008–2009. In this research we applied a qualitative research strategy. We conducted 20 interviews, 13 with employees of the UAV unit and 7 with key TFU-partners with whom the unit had to cooperate. We analyzed the interviews by means of the concepts developed in the theoretical framework. By going back and forth between theory and practice, we show that it was rather problematic for the unit to develop controllability and operate safely. We conclude with a reflection on a safety management strategy for this particular unit and the relevance of our conceptualization for other organizations.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:a657cd5d-2b76-4e24-a679-d2d66e4c2b92

CRC Press/Balkema - Taylor & Francis Group

978-1-138-00123-7

ESREL 2013: Proceedings of the 22nd European Safety and Reliability Conference "Safety, Reliability and Risk Analysis: Beyond the Horizon", Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 29 september-2 oktober 2013

Institutional Repository

conference paper

(c) 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK. Used with permission