[Health care safety should be focused on prevention. Lessons to be learned from aviation, nuclear power plants and offshore industries].

In many respects the approach to questions of safety adopted in the aviation, nuclear energy and offshore oil industries is highly relevant to safety in the health care sector, even where legislation is concerned. Characteristic features are the emphasis on risk-factor identification, and such demands as risk analysis, knowledge checks, and the limitation of working hours. In addition, there is a need of disaster inquiries in cases of serious incidents, and of an organisation specifically responsible for safety issues. Regarding the development of an incident report system for use in health care, the importance of which increases with the risks involved, a commendable model is the risk report system adopted by civil aviation authorities in the USA, where those submitting reports are guaranteed immunity.