Sergio Nello Benvenuti - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Thesis Chapters by Sergio Nello Benvenuti
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.
The purpose of this work is to describe the contributions that the research methods of practice-b... more The purpose of this work is to describe the contributions that the research methods of practice-based studies can make to a new conception of work, learning and innovation in organizations. In recent decades, we have seen the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and related organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration that present challenges for scholars seeking to understand the work practices, the real “lived work”, the missing what (Garfinkel H., Wieder D., 1992) or what escapes traditional sociological studies at work (Gherardi S., Bruni A., 2007; Gherardi S., 2019). In particular, attention is increasingly required to the role played, and to the agency, of the material (especially ICT) and to the dimension of perception, emotions and the so-called “embodied”. In other words, with what has been defined as “multimodality” (Luff P., Heath C., 2019). Just as the factory represented the ideal-typical workplace for the study of work in the industrial age, and the laboratory was the place where scientific activity was studied as an activity resulting from the working practices of scientists in the flesh, the centres of coordination have established themselves as a privileged place of reference for studies on practical knowledge (Gherardi S., 2019). It is argued that appreciating and deepening the interdisciplinary differences between different practical approaches can help us understand work and improve work practices in order to technologically and socially support cooperation in those jobs with a high knowledge content such as in coordination centres. The first part of this document will illustrate the different approaches to situated work. In the second will talk about learning and knowledge as collective and participated practices, and in the third the innovation will be conceived as a practical activity and as generated by emerging practices in “micro-working realities”. The working practices in the main European centres of railway coordination, reported in the recent literature, will be analysed in chapters four and five of this document in the light of Heath & Luff's pioneering sociological survey of the nineties (Heath C., Luff P., 1992) in the Bakerloo Line Coordination Centre of the London Underground. The last chapter will illustrate the results of an ethnographic survey that I conducted at a coordination centre for Italian regional rail transport in Tuscany, and where the conceptual and methodological contributions of practice-based studies, illustrated in the first and second parts of this work, have made it possible to describe socio-material aspects of coordination activities not previously detected.
Papers by Sergio Nello Benvenuti
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2023
Al giorno d'oggi è ampiamente accettato che l'implementazione ed uso dello strumento "Intelligenz... more Al giorno d'oggi è ampiamente accettato che l'implementazione ed uso dello strumento "Intelligenza Artificiale" (AI) stia influenzando in modo significativo un gran numero di settori, comprese le ferrovie. In un loro recente articolo, Tang R. et al. (2022) presentano una revisione sistematica della letteratura dell'attuale stato dell'arte dell'AI nel trasporto ferroviario. In particolare, gli autori hanno analizzato e discusso documenti da una prospettiva ferroviaria olistica, che copre otto domini come manutenzione e ispezione, pianificazione e gestione, sicurezza e protezione, guida autonoma e controllo, gestione delle entrate, politica dei trasporti e mobilità dei passeggeri. Questa loro revisione compie un primo passo verso la definizione del ruolo dello strumento AI nelle ferrovie future e fornisce una sintesi degli attuali obiettivi della ricerca sull'AI connessa al trasporto ferroviario. In questo articolo si farà riferimento al concetto di Ultimate Sociomateriality Theory (UST) di Haddad, G. e Chedrawi, C. (2019) per descrivere quali possono essere gli sviluppi della futura ascesa della materialità dell'AI nelle pratiche lavorative in generale, con uno sguardo particolare su quelle ferroviarie. Haddad e Chedrawi descrivono la "ultimate sociomateriality" come l'incorporazione del sociale all'interno del materiale e viceversa, come una relazione fusionale che produce pratiche. Nello studio di Tang R. et al. (2022) sull'AI nel settore ferroviario sono stati esaminati dagli autori circa 139 articoli scientifici riguardanti il periodo dal 2010 al dicembre 2020. Gli autori hanno riscontrato che i principali sforzi di ricerca sono stati profusi nell'AI per la manutenzione e l'ispezione ferroviaria, mentre è stata trovata una ricerca molto limitata, o nulla, sull'uso della AI per la politica del trasporto ferroviario e la gestione delle entrate. I restanti sottodomini hanno ricevuto un'attenzione da lieve a moderata. Secondo gli autori le applicazioni di intelligenza artificiale sono promettenti e tendono ad agire come un punto di svolta nell'affrontare molteplici sfide ferroviarie. Tuttavia, al momento, la ricerca sull'AI nel settore ferroviario è ancora per lo più nelle sue fasi iniziali. Ci si può aspettare che la ricerca futura vada a sviluppare applicazioni combinate ed avanzate di IA (ad esempio con l'ottimizzazione), nell'utilizzare la tecnologia AI nel processo decisionale, nell'affrontare l'incertezza e le nuove sfide emergenti in materia di cybersicurezza.
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.
In general, the paradigm of innovation has undergone, and is undergoing, significant changes from... more In general, the paradigm of innovation has undergone, and is undergoing, significant changes from a technological, economic, and positivistic point of view towards collectivist paradigms, oriented to process and dynamism. Many studies have highlighted the need to develop a new type of conceptual ideas and frameworks that more deeply explain the complex and multifaceted nature of innovation structures and processes. New studies drawing attention to practical and collaborative processes in the creation and production of services and in the management of activities. Referring to theories based on practice (
The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "soc... more The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "social" and the "material", between an interpretation of practice as an object of change (privileging human beings) or an agent of change (privileging its action on human (Gherardi S., 2017b, p. 39) beings). Socio-materiality (with or without hyphen) is a key concept in research and studies based on organizational and labor practices, because it is a theory that "illuminates the relationship between social practice and materiality in an organization" (Orlikowski W.J., 2007; Leonardi P.M., 2013). In this article we will refer to various hypotheses on the usefulness of the concept of "sociomateriality" in analyzing and describing the relationship between man and matter, between human and technological, between social and material as well as reflections on the theme of practices in philosophical thought.
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2023
The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "soc... more The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "social" and the "material", between an interpretation of practice as an object of change (privileging human beings) or an agent of change (privileging its action on human (Gherardi S., 2017b, p. 39) beings). Socio-materiality (with or without hyphen) is a key concept in research and studies based on organizational and labor practices, because it is a theory that "illuminates the relationship between social practice and materiality in an organization" (Orlikowski W.J., 2007; Leonardi P.M., 2013). In this article we will refer to various hypotheses on the usefulness of the concept of "sociomateriality" in analyzing and describing the relationship between man and matter, between human and technological, between social and material as well as reflections on the theme of practices in philosophical thought.
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2022
The subject of this document is learning, and knowledge, seen as collective and participatory pra... more The subject of this document is learning, and knowledge, seen as collective and participatory practices. The practical approach "does not clearly separate learning from knowledge" but the latter, within practice, "contains at the same time the creation and acquisition of knowledge and the implementation of knowledge" itself. Today, the main workplaces for studies on practical knowledge are coordination centers. Just as the factory represented the ideal workplace for the study of work in the industrial age, and just as the laboratory was the place where science was studied as the result of working practices of flesh-and-blood scientists, today coordination centers, such as air traffic control towers, the call centers that manage emergency calls and distribute ambulances, railway or metropolitan traffic control rooms, "as well as all those work situations characterized by information and communication technologies" (ICT) used to "support remote cooperation", are the representative places of a series of organizational contexts "that have to do with the ‹‹working together››". Working together in a cooperative way that refers to the world of humans interacting with each other and with the world of non-humans, especially with ICT (Latour B., Woolgar S., 1979; Gherardi S., 2019).
Drafts by Sergio Nello Benvenuti
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.
The purpose of this work is to describe the contributions that the research methods of practice-b... more The purpose of this work is to describe the contributions that the research methods of practice-based studies can make to a new conception of work, learning and innovation in organizations. In recent decades, we have seen the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and related organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration that present challenges for scholars seeking to understand the work practices, the real “lived work”, the missing what (Garfinkel H., Wieder D., 1992) or what escapes traditional sociological studies at work (Gherardi S., Bruni A., 2007; Gherardi S., 2019). In particular, attention is increasingly required to the role played, and to the agency, of the material (especially ICT) and to the dimension of perception, emotions and the so-called “embodied”. In other words, with what has been defined as “multimodality” (Luff P., Heath C., 2019). Just as the factory represented the ideal-typical workplace for the study of work in the industrial age, and the laboratory was the place where scientific activity was studied as an activity resulting from the working practices of scientists in the flesh, the centres of coordination have established themselves as a privileged place of reference for studies on practical knowledge (Gherardi S., 2019). It is argued that appreciating and deepening the interdisciplinary differences between different practical approaches can help us understand work and improve work practices in order to technologically and socially support cooperation in those jobs with a high knowledge content such as in coordination centres. The first part of this document will illustrate the different approaches to situated work. In the second will talk about learning and knowledge as collective and participated practices, and in the third the innovation will be conceived as a practical activity and as generated by emerging practices in “micro-working realities”. The working practices in the main European centres of railway coordination, reported in the recent literature, will be analysed in chapters four and five of this document in the light of Heath & Luff's pioneering sociological survey of the nineties (Heath C., Luff P., 1992) in the Bakerloo Line Coordination Centre of the London Underground. The last chapter will illustrate the results of an ethnographic survey that I conducted at a coordination centre for Italian regional rail transport in Tuscany, and where the conceptual and methodological contributions of practice-based studies, illustrated in the first and second parts of this work, have made it possible to describe socio-material aspects of coordination activities not previously detected.
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2023
Al giorno d'oggi è ampiamente accettato che l'implementazione ed uso dello strumento "Intelligenz... more Al giorno d'oggi è ampiamente accettato che l'implementazione ed uso dello strumento "Intelligenza Artificiale" (AI) stia influenzando in modo significativo un gran numero di settori, comprese le ferrovie. In un loro recente articolo, Tang R. et al. (2022) presentano una revisione sistematica della letteratura dell'attuale stato dell'arte dell'AI nel trasporto ferroviario. In particolare, gli autori hanno analizzato e discusso documenti da una prospettiva ferroviaria olistica, che copre otto domini come manutenzione e ispezione, pianificazione e gestione, sicurezza e protezione, guida autonoma e controllo, gestione delle entrate, politica dei trasporti e mobilità dei passeggeri. Questa loro revisione compie un primo passo verso la definizione del ruolo dello strumento AI nelle ferrovie future e fornisce una sintesi degli attuali obiettivi della ricerca sull'AI connessa al trasporto ferroviario. In questo articolo si farà riferimento al concetto di Ultimate Sociomateriality Theory (UST) di Haddad, G. e Chedrawi, C. (2019) per descrivere quali possono essere gli sviluppi della futura ascesa della materialità dell'AI nelle pratiche lavorative in generale, con uno sguardo particolare su quelle ferroviarie. Haddad e Chedrawi descrivono la "ultimate sociomateriality" come l'incorporazione del sociale all'interno del materiale e viceversa, come una relazione fusionale che produce pratiche. Nello studio di Tang R. et al. (2022) sull'AI nel settore ferroviario sono stati esaminati dagli autori circa 139 articoli scientifici riguardanti il periodo dal 2010 al dicembre 2020. Gli autori hanno riscontrato che i principali sforzi di ricerca sono stati profusi nell'AI per la manutenzione e l'ispezione ferroviaria, mentre è stata trovata una ricerca molto limitata, o nulla, sull'uso della AI per la politica del trasporto ferroviario e la gestione delle entrate. I restanti sottodomini hanno ricevuto un'attenzione da lieve a moderata. Secondo gli autori le applicazioni di intelligenza artificiale sono promettenti e tendono ad agire come un punto di svolta nell'affrontare molteplici sfide ferroviarie. Tuttavia, al momento, la ricerca sull'AI nel settore ferroviario è ancora per lo più nelle sue fasi iniziali. Ci si può aspettare che la ricerca futura vada a sviluppare applicazioni combinate ed avanzate di IA (ad esempio con l'ottimizzazione), nell'utilizzare la tecnologia AI nel processo decisionale, nell'affrontare l'incertezza e le nuove sfide emergenti in materia di cybersicurezza.
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.
In general, the paradigm of innovation has undergone, and is undergoing, significant changes from... more In general, the paradigm of innovation has undergone, and is undergoing, significant changes from a technological, economic, and positivistic point of view towards collectivist paradigms, oriented to process and dynamism. Many studies have highlighted the need to develop a new type of conceptual ideas and frameworks that more deeply explain the complex and multifaceted nature of innovation structures and processes. New studies drawing attention to practical and collaborative processes in the creation and production of services and in the management of activities. Referring to theories based on practice (
The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "soc... more The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "social" and the "material", between an interpretation of practice as an object of change (privileging human beings) or an agent of change (privileging its action on human (Gherardi S., 2017b, p. 39) beings). Socio-materiality (with or without hyphen) is a key concept in research and studies based on organizational and labor practices, because it is a theory that "illuminates the relationship between social practice and materiality in an organization" (Orlikowski W.J., 2007; Leonardi P.M., 2013). In this article we will refer to various hypotheses on the usefulness of the concept of "sociomateriality" in analyzing and describing the relationship between man and matter, between human and technological, between social and material as well as reflections on the theme of practices in philosophical thought.
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2023
The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "soc... more The debate on the socio-materiality of practices is still in an unstable balance between the "social" and the "material", between an interpretation of practice as an object of change (privileging human beings) or an agent of change (privileging its action on human (Gherardi S., 2017b, p. 39) beings). Socio-materiality (with or without hyphen) is a key concept in research and studies based on organizational and labor practices, because it is a theory that "illuminates the relationship between social practice and materiality in an organization" (Orlikowski W.J., 2007; Leonardi P.M., 2013). In this article we will refer to various hypotheses on the usefulness of the concept of "sociomateriality" in analyzing and describing the relationship between man and matter, between human and technological, between social and material as well as reflections on the theme of practices in philosophical thought.
Sergio Nello Benvenuti, 2022
The subject of this document is learning, and knowledge, seen as collective and participatory pra... more The subject of this document is learning, and knowledge, seen as collective and participatory practices. The practical approach "does not clearly separate learning from knowledge" but the latter, within practice, "contains at the same time the creation and acquisition of knowledge and the implementation of knowledge" itself. Today, the main workplaces for studies on practical knowledge are coordination centers. Just as the factory represented the ideal workplace for the study of work in the industrial age, and just as the laboratory was the place where science was studied as the result of working practices of flesh-and-blood scientists, today coordination centers, such as air traffic control towers, the call centers that manage emergency calls and distribute ambulances, railway or metropolitan traffic control rooms, "as well as all those work situations characterized by information and communication technologies" (ICT) used to "support remote cooperation", are the representative places of a series of organizational contexts "that have to do with the ‹‹working together››". Working together in a cooperative way that refers to the world of humans interacting with each other and with the world of non-humans, especially with ICT (Latour B., Woolgar S., 1979; Gherardi S., 2019).
In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable re... more In recent decades, we have witnessed the widespread implementation of technologies that enable real-time interaction between co-located and remote participants. These technologies, and their organizational arrangements, have created new forms of cooperation and collaboration and present challenges for ethnographers seeking to understand the practices and "lived work" of participants. They require specific attention to the material and instrumental aspects and to the so-called "incarnate", that is, with what has been called multi-modality. Paul K. Luff and Christian Heath of King's College London (UK), in their recent article (2019), argue that it is through a detailed analysis of specific cases, and the circumstances of their use, that we can begin to discover the skills, abilities, "know-how" that allow a real practical use. They have worked in those particular work environments that are the coordination centres; Contemporary workplaces saturated with technology where social interaction and "instrumental sequence" are an inextricable aspect of effective work practice. Integration and coordination that become crucial for the management of unforeseen events, especially for those that cause unexpected consequences and accidents. The increasing interactions of technical, human and organizational elements in modern systems pose new challenges for security management, requiring approaches capable of integrating techno-centric investigations with social-oriented analyses. Therefore, traditional methods of risk analysis rooted in chain reactions of events and searching for single "failure" points are increasingly inadequate to address system-wide investigations. Normally investigations focus on oversimplified analysis of how the work was expected to be conducted, rather than exploring what exactly happened between the agents involved. The study of Antonio J.N. Akel, G. Di Gravio, L. Fedele and R. Patriarca (2022) analysing a 2011 accident in the railway system of the United Kingdom (UK) adopts a model based on systems theory in which the results demonstrate the benefits of this sociotechnical approach to highlight the criticalities both at the element and system level, ranging from the failure of technological components to organizational and maintenance planning, improving safety performance in normal working practices.