Which code is it? Inter-rater reliability of systems theory-based causal factor taxonomy for the outdoor sector

The use of incident reporting systems to enhance understanding of accident causation is widely accepted in most domains. However, to formulate appropriate countermeasures, organisations must be able to reliably identify the contributory factors across incidents. The use of contributory factor taxonomies can enhance the reliability of such analyses, if domainappropriate. This study aims to test the inter-rater reliability of a revised contributory factor taxonomy that was developed for the led outdoor activity domain. The study involved 13 human factors experts using the taxonomy to code 3 incident reports. The results demonstrated that the participants using the revised taxonomy had greatly improved levels of inter-rater reliability compared to the original. However, three issues were identified. First, participants had trouble distinguishing between certain codes. Secondly, mistakes were made when participants were required to place specific actors into categories. Thirdly, participants went beyond the information provided in the incident descriptions. The results show the importance of testing the reliability of a method to save money in the design process, and in some domains, reduce casualties.; ;