Organizational Practices for Learning with work accidents

European statistics show that accidents at work are still a major social problem for our society (European Commission, 2004) and at the same time, it has been recognized the need to use the information for accident prevention through learning (eg., Koornneef, 2000; Toft & Reynolds, 1997). The focus on learning emphasizes the need to have information available, disseminated, discussed, and changes need to be implemented. According to Reason (1997) learning takes place over a cycle that begins with the observation of an event and ends with action to prevent its recurrence. To date few studies have been conducted that have covered the whole process and stages of learning throughout the cycle. This study aims to contribute to increased understanding of how companies are using the information on accidents at work to develop strategies and practices of learning, taking into account all phases of the cycle. Seventeen case studies were conducted within Portuguese organizations from different activity sectors that have been identified as having "good practice". Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with key people in the area of safety and/or Human Resources Management. The results suggest that the organizations studied have some well-defined procedures for the collection, recording, coding and analysis of accidents. Simultaneously, we observed that some procedures are characterized by nonstandardization.