Mode 2 critical systems practice for complex safety decisions: Reflections from New Zealand's dairy industry

Daniel Norris, Jeff Foote and Richard Greatbanks

Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2025, vol. 42, issue 1, 189-205

Abstract: Poor decision‐making contributes to disasters in complex industrial systems. Improving group decision‐making practices for safety‐critical interventions is crucial, yet is hindered by a fragmented safety science literature. Our study applies Jackson's critical systems practice (CSP) to a complex safety problem at a New Zealand dairy manufacturing facility. Reflective practice, employed in the study and writing this article, underlines CSP's usefulness in navigating complex emergent safety challenges. Key insights include clarifying cognitive complexity amongst participants early in an intervention, focusing more sharply on crucial safety outcomes by using critical facilitation, and enhancing CSP's ‘Check’ stage using reflective practice. We conclude by calling on scholars to prioritise the application of CSP in real‐world contexts to deepen our understanding of systemic praxis and generate actionable improvements.

Date: 2025
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