High Reliability Organizing in High Risk Industries Banner - Artwork by E. Steele, for the Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center

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Updates:

Feb 5, 2010:
Universities using this site added

Jan 11- 30, 2009:
Rebuilt site

 

 

The San Bernardino Group

is dedicated to the advancement of High Reliability Organizations, especially those in high-risk occupations and endeavors.

 

Active - Effective - Influential

Since 1989, this group has since worked together with internationally renowned HRO researchers and HRO practitioners to identify, at the level of the individual, successful methods of operations, teaching methodologies, barriers to implementation, and causes of failure (individual, systemic, and organizational). The group is now active with several international, HRO-seeking industries and organizations assisting with successful HRO education and implementation efforts through conferences, workshops, adult learning and direct collaboration.

HRO Researcher Dr. Karlene Roberts, UC Berkeley, Center for Catastrophic Risk Management Co-Director
HRO Researcher Dr. Karl Weick, Univ. Michigan, Author of Managing the Unexpected, Shuttle Disaster Investigation
HRO Researcher Dr. Kathleen Sutcliffe, Univ. Michigan, Co-Author Managing the Unexpected, HRO in Emergency Medicine
Dr. Daved van Stralen, HRO Pioneer in Pediatric Emergency Medicine
Cheif Gary Provansal, HRO in Emergency Response
USS Carl Vinson, 2005
Challenger Space Shuttle
Helipad Emergency Trauma Center
Pediatric Emergency Room
Southern California Wildfires 2003
Center for Catastrophic Risk Management
Managing the Unexpected
Pediatric Emergency Care
Hurricane Katrina

Research, and the practical experience of those making hard decisions in crisis events, come together to clarify what really works in critical live or die situations.  We believe that the approach used for live or die moments derives from the same principles used in routine operations in uncertain situations.

Banks, investment firms, schools, construction firms, theater arts (dance, opera, stage, and film), small businesses, and large corporations all have exposure to risks and have experienced threats to their viability.  The principles used to identify risk and threat and then develop a response are similar despite the varied nature of these organizations.

When one reviews these principles we see the similarity to those used by military combat, lawUSS Carl Vinson, CVN 70 where Dr. Karlene Roberts began much of her work researching HRO enforcement, firefighting, and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS).  When time pressures occur, all must respond to threat or uncertainty with existing resources.  While the resources may vary, the processes do not.

Within each of these organizations, the point of contact between the organization and the threat is the individual.  Here is where one person with the right attributes and attitude will identify the situation and interpret its level of risk.  At this point, the individual must then translate this knowledge to others within the organization so that they also appreciate the situation and begin responding.

In some systems, such as the financial sector, healthcare, or public safety, attention has come to risk mitigation and improving safety as a priority.  Scattered throughout these services, individuals have come to learn that safety and risk mitigation best develop in a culture that supports front-line workers.

These healthy safety cultures result in highly reliable organizations. The people in the group participating in this website also lead high reliability organizing (HRO) efforts within their own high-risk industries.

Beginning in 1989 several individuals from medicine, fire fighting, and EMS came together with the common interest of how individuals respond to emergencies, particularly by framing the crisis as a straightforward problem to solve.

 

"What you do everyday is what you do in an emergency" (Joe Martin, Battalion Chief, Los Angeles City Fire Department, Retired).


Universities and Colleges have begun to use this site for their student's assignments:

Capella University
an accredited online university		 Capella University
Crafton Hills College
a fully accredited community college		 Crafton Hills College