SCALE®  

SCALE® analysis technology helps determine which incidents need deep-dive analysis. It is built on a robust methodology that enables organisations to better understand the people, operational, and system factors that contribute to the conditions for unplanned events to occur.

SCALE® was developed on evidence-based science and research

Our research into workplace incidents has shown that we need to look at how systems work together to understand the causes of accidents. A systems thinking approach helps us find connections between people, technology, and organisational processes. To do this, we needed a model that could explore how these factors interact and lead to incidents.

After years of practice backed by evidence, we partnered with the Collaborative Evaluation and Research Centre (CERC) at Federation University. They reviewed accident research and models, from large single incidents to multiple and long-term studies, to help us improve how we analyse and prevent workplace incidents.

Research shows that many incidents analysis models focus only on mistakes, malfunctions, and failures. They often miss the bigger picture of how systems work together. These models are also complex and hard to understand. Based on existing models, our experience, and research, we have improved and simplified the SCALE® method.

SCALE® is a step-by-step tool to find out why an incident happened and what to do about it. It helps prioritise incidents that could lead to the most serious outcomes, focusing only on the most critical ones. SCALE® starts by identifying key control failures and then digs deeper into the human factors behind incidents, such as why people might lose focus or make mistakes. It also looks at bigger issues, like workplace conditions, that set the stage for incidents. By tackling these causes, SCALE® helps organisations create impactful corrective actions that enhance control effectiveness.

Severity
Controls
Antecedents
Learning
Exposure
Assess severity & risk context

Severity

Is there potential for a serious incident and what was the specific high risk task context?

Determine what kind of critical risks may have been present while work was performed.

Assess the potential severity of the event to determine whether a serious outcome was probable before a comprehensive analysis is merited.

Determine ineffective controls

Controls

Which critical controls would have stopped an incident from happening?

Identify the key controls that, if fully in place, could have lowered the chances of the incident happening. Check if these controls were fully available and practical for the worker to use. Then, evaluate how effective these controls would have been in preventing the incident.

Analyse causes

Antecedents

Which human, operational, and organisational system factors helped to set the scene for the incident?

Analyse the human factors that contribute to absent or ineffective controls. These include unintended or intended work arounds.

Further analysis is then undertaken on whether operational or organisational influences have set the scene for relevant controls to be poorly implemented or not implemented at all.

Make sense of findings & prioritise

Learning

Which factors should be prioritised to resolve the issue?

Review the many causes of the incident to make sure the most urgent issues related to immediate task risks are addressed first. Identify the broader factors that could continue to cause risks if they are not fixed.

Develop actions to strengthen controls

Exposure

Which actions will have the greatest impact on exposure and reduce the potential for a repeat event?

Create actions to address any weakening of controls at the human, operational, and organisational levels.

Wherever possible, redesign controls to make them easier to use and more resistant to human error.

Benefits of SCALE®

Feel confident with reliable data analysis

SCALE® is built on research and has been used in many high-risk industries. The framework works for both serious and minor incidents and is also used to support safety governance and assurance.

Know you have the right expert tools for the right incident

The SCALE® methodology can be used for both single incidents and large groups of incidents (1,000+). Its goal is to improve how well critical controls work to prevent future accidents.

Embed a systematic strategy you can rely on

SCALE® is a modern approach to understanding the causes of incidents. It focuses on the most important parts of risk management, human performance, organisational behaviour, and operational reliability.

"Unitywater strengthened its approach to the management of high-risk activities through an in-depth review of all incidents that had serious or fatality potential.. we were able to identify what the critical risks were within the organisation.."

Source: Leading Positive Safety, Sentis

".. Warren guided us through a transformational safety management project at Aurizon. He is an enthusiastic facilitator who can bring a diverse group of people to work towards a common goal. Being a skilled educator, he ensured the team was well equipped to translate knowledge and insights to practical application"

Strategy and Innovations Leader
Aurizon Rail

"Their work was excellent and [their] critical thinking and challenging approach helped inform health and safety priorities including identifying opportunities to enhance our integration of work planning with critical risk management; strengthening our broader control and critical control assurance approach, enhancing leading indicators for critical risk and identifying opportunities for reducing clutter in our downstream processes"

General Manager HSEQ
UGL

"Warren is a very astute leadership coach, focusing on the end game through conceptual application and a high level of understating how business systems, people and culture must all come together for successful change within large corporations. As a result of this, Warren has helped businesses (including Australia Post Group) have success in change cultural programs."

Head of Continuous Improvement
Australia Post

"The SCALE® Process Model uses systemic techniques to provide a deeper understanding of how multiple factors contribute to the severity of an event aiding in reducing the incidence of serious injuries and fatalities."

Federation University

Backed by industry-leading analysis software

Cutting-edge

We have developed SaaS-based software that enables individuals or corporates to analyse hi-potential incidents at an individual level or perform large scale data anlaysis; just like we do.

Reliable

Our suite of analytical tools enable technical specialists to undertake their work in a repeatable and consistent manner based on the SCALE® methodology. We provide the tools and specialist training and coaching.

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