Safety regulatory bodies : an analysis of rail and aviation cases

![CDATA[Two recent rail accident investigations found significant deficiencies with both the rail organisations and the safety regulatory bodies. When compared with the aviation industry in developed countries, which has an enviable safety record, similarities would not expect to be found. However in undertaking a review of findings from accident cases in both industries, this paper found a number of similarities emerging, though separated by time. This paper takes an inter-industry and interdisciplinary approach to investigate the history of regulation outcomes in transport through aviation and rail examples. The paper finds there are a number of deficiencies in the way the regulators execute their duties. These shortcomings in operations may persist over extended periods of time despite inquiries and recommendations. The seminal work of Stigler's "capture theory" (1971) and Jensen & Meckling's "agency theory" (1976) are applied to the findings to investigate whether regulation does ensure safety, under what conditions and if not why not. The human resource implications of the findings are also presented.]]