6
disagreements. Eight decision-related themes were iden-
tified. Brief definitions of these themes are contained in
Table 3 and more detailed descriptions are provided in the
discussion section.
Step 4: Collate and quantify themes across incidents.
The goal of Step 4 is to examine the context and prevalence
of themes identified in Step 3 when looking at the data
set holistically. To do so NIOSH researchers used the eight
emergent themes (Table 3) as codes for each decision of
each incident (i.e., each row in each decision table). Each
participant described one incident. Therefore, there were
a total of 21 incidents with an average of 10.9 decisions
per incident and 203 decisions in total. To assign a code
NIOSH researchers considered the contextual informa-
tion provided in the decision chart, decision analysis table,
Table 3. The final eight emergent themes used to code each decision from each incident
Code Definition
Communicate
Effectively
Decisions to communicate (or failure to communicate) with co-workers in the moment to prevent an
incident from occurring. (e.g., pre-shift communication, honk horn at worker).
Share your Stories Decisions to tell (or failure to tell) management or other co-workers after an incident happens for the
purpose of sharing knowledge or making changes to prevent similar incidents. (e.g., report near-miss).
Stay Calm Decision to stay calm (or failure to stay calm). This includes decisions to not take any action or panicking
and taking the wrong action. (e.g., stay in the cab).
No Distractions Decisions to maintain focus on the task at hand (or failure to maintain focus). (e.g., look for a fallen water
bottle).
Be a Team Player Decisions to look out for the safety of others (or failure to do so). (e.g., get out of the way of other traffic).
Safety First Decision to put safety first (or failure to do so). This includes decisions derived from attitudes, beliefs, and
established procedures related to safety such as risk taking, following standard operating procedures, or
cutting corners to keep things moving. (e.g., shuts down a road that is too slippery).
Know your truck Decisions made based on specific knowledge, training, or standard procedures on how to operate a haul
truck (or lack of knowledge and training). (e.g., pre-shift inspection, know what brakes to use).
Situational
Awareness
Decisions made based on the ability to perceive elements in the environment, comprehend their meaning,
project their status in the future, and planning accordingly (or failure to do so). (e.g., plan route around
other vehicles, slow down to meet changing conditions).
Table 4. Examples of quotes associated with the top three emergent themes from three particiants
CDM -1 CDM -2 CDM-3
Situational Awareness
“…and that’s the thing, I had obstacles
on each side, and all I had was that much
room, and I knew I had to stop before,
you know, I got to him...”
“It didn’t take me long to recognize what,
where I was at and what was going on,
you know? If I would have maybe tried
to steer down off it, the berm might have
collapsed...”
“...I saw one pickup driving up the hill.
Looking around for the mechanic, ...I
didn’t see him anywhere. I looked in the
mirror, started the truck, took off, and I
took the side of the pick-up off…I should
have been aware of the fact that only one
pick-up left...”
Know Your Truck
“Once I was slowing down, I pulled the
handbrake and it, you know…it locks
everything up…”
“...the steering is really sensitive on these,
especially on a new machine… “
“I just felt the left front wheel riding up
on the berm, you know…”
“...they get out of gear and stuff breaks, so
I just shut truck off…”
Safety First
“Especially, for what we do for a living, it’s
a dangerous job. But you can make it safe
with a good team that we have and a good
supervisor and also good management that
keeps everyone safe....”
“No, I didn’t say a thing. Maybe I should
have, but this was like 20 years ago…so
yeah, kind of a silly thing, but those kinds
of things can get you in trouble out here.
Just the little things, overlooking the little
things.”
“I always…I have a habit of doing that…I
look in the mirrors before I move…before
you move forward you hit your horn
twice, and that’s what I did.”
disagreements. Eight decision-related themes were iden-
tified. Brief definitions of these themes are contained in
Table 3 and more detailed descriptions are provided in the
discussion section.
Step 4: Collate and quantify themes across incidents.
The goal of Step 4 is to examine the context and prevalence
of themes identified in Step 3 when looking at the data
set holistically. To do so NIOSH researchers used the eight
emergent themes (Table 3) as codes for each decision of
each incident (i.e., each row in each decision table). Each
participant described one incident. Therefore, there were
a total of 21 incidents with an average of 10.9 decisions
per incident and 203 decisions in total. To assign a code
NIOSH researchers considered the contextual informa-
tion provided in the decision chart, decision analysis table,
Table 3. The final eight emergent themes used to code each decision from each incident
Code Definition
Communicate
Effectively
Decisions to communicate (or failure to communicate) with co-workers in the moment to prevent an
incident from occurring. (e.g., pre-shift communication, honk horn at worker).
Share your Stories Decisions to tell (or failure to tell) management or other co-workers after an incident happens for the
purpose of sharing knowledge or making changes to prevent similar incidents. (e.g., report near-miss).
Stay Calm Decision to stay calm (or failure to stay calm). This includes decisions to not take any action or panicking
and taking the wrong action. (e.g., stay in the cab).
No Distractions Decisions to maintain focus on the task at hand (or failure to maintain focus). (e.g., look for a fallen water
bottle).
Be a Team Player Decisions to look out for the safety of others (or failure to do so). (e.g., get out of the way of other traffic).
Safety First Decision to put safety first (or failure to do so). This includes decisions derived from attitudes, beliefs, and
established procedures related to safety such as risk taking, following standard operating procedures, or
cutting corners to keep things moving. (e.g., shuts down a road that is too slippery).
Know your truck Decisions made based on specific knowledge, training, or standard procedures on how to operate a haul
truck (or lack of knowledge and training). (e.g., pre-shift inspection, know what brakes to use).
Situational
Awareness
Decisions made based on the ability to perceive elements in the environment, comprehend their meaning,
project their status in the future, and planning accordingly (or failure to do so). (e.g., plan route around
other vehicles, slow down to meet changing conditions).
Table 4. Examples of quotes associated with the top three emergent themes from three particiants
CDM -1 CDM -2 CDM-3
Situational Awareness
“…and that’s the thing, I had obstacles
on each side, and all I had was that much
room, and I knew I had to stop before,
you know, I got to him...”
“It didn’t take me long to recognize what,
where I was at and what was going on,
you know? If I would have maybe tried
to steer down off it, the berm might have
collapsed...”
“...I saw one pickup driving up the hill.
Looking around for the mechanic, ...I
didn’t see him anywhere. I looked in the
mirror, started the truck, took off, and I
took the side of the pick-up off…I should
have been aware of the fact that only one
pick-up left...”
Know Your Truck
“Once I was slowing down, I pulled the
handbrake and it, you know…it locks
everything up…”
“...the steering is really sensitive on these,
especially on a new machine… “
“I just felt the left front wheel riding up
on the berm, you know…”
“...they get out of gear and stuff breaks, so
I just shut truck off…”
Safety First
“Especially, for what we do for a living, it’s
a dangerous job. But you can make it safe
with a good team that we have and a good
supervisor and also good management that
keeps everyone safe....”
“No, I didn’t say a thing. Maybe I should
have, but this was like 20 years ago…so
yeah, kind of a silly thing, but those kinds
of things can get you in trouble out here.
Just the little things, overlooking the little
things.”
“I always…I have a habit of doing that…I
look in the mirrors before I move…before
you move forward you hit your horn
twice, and that’s what I did.”