Our People

Associate Prof Chris Bearman
Associate Professor Chris Bearman
Project Leader
Key interests:
resilience

About

Chris Bearman's research involves conducting industry-focused studies in laboratory and field settings with the aim of creating results that have both a strong theoretical underpinning and a robust application to industry. This involves working closely with industry partners and government organizations around the world. Chris also supervises a number of PhD, Masters & Honours students in the Safety Science and Human Factors areas.

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More info:
CQU page

Project leadership

Improving decision-making in complex multi-team environments
Emergencies are increasing in complexity, duration, and the number of agencies involved. This is likely to lead to an increasing number of errors being made, breakdowns in teams and degraded operational situations. These problems will play out within the context of a decreasing tolerance in the community and their political representatives. Rather than distributing the blame to individuals we need to acknowledge that errors and breakdowns in emergency management teams will occur, and that it is important to seek and manage them in a mature and systematic way. The current project has three main research streams that are examining team monitoring, decision making and organisational learning.
Research team:
bbrooks, cowen, scurnin
QFES Strategy 2030
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services will use Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC research to support its strategic planning into the next decade.

Supervisory roles

Project Student
Developing decision support tools for better managing complexity in emergency management

Research team

Type Project Research team
Commissioned Research 2014 South Australia post-incident task force jtrigg, srainbird, cbearman, Lyndsey Wright, jmclennan
Commissioned Research 2015 Sampson Flat SA post-incident task force cbearman, areynolds, lclarkson, rmatthews, lhaigh, ddawson
Year Type Citation
2017 Report Bearman, C. et al. Decision making, team monitoring and organisational learning in emergency management: annual project report 2016-17. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Journal Article Bearman, C., Grunwald, J., Brooks, B. & Owen, C. Tools for monitoring teams in emergency management: EMBAM and TBM. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 32, (2017).
2017 Journal Article McLennan, J., Every, D., Bearman, C. & Wright, L. On the concept of denial of natural hazard risk and its use in relation to householder wildfire safety in Australia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 21, 176-186 (2017).
2017 Conference Paper Bearman, C., Rainbird, S., Owen, C., Brooks, B. & Curnin, S. Enhancing team performance. AFAC17 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Conference Paper Brooks, B., Curnin, S., Bearman, C. & Owen, C. Identifying lessons from exercising and training for emergency management decision-making. AFAC17 (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2017).
2017 Journal Article Owen, C., Krusel, N., Bearman, C. & Brooks, B. From research outcome to agency change: mapping a learning trajectory of opportunities and challenges. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 32, (2017).
2017 Journal Article Grunwald, J. & Bearman, C. Identifying and resolving coordinated decision making breakdowns in emergency management. International Journal of Emergency Management 13, (2017).
2016 Report Bearman, C., Rainbird, S., Brooks, B. & Owen, C. Proposed tools for monitoring teams in emergency management. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2016 Journal Article Owen, C., Brooks, B., Bearman, C. & Curnin, S. Values and complexities in assessing strategic-level emergency management effectiveness. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management 24, 181-190 (2016).
2016 Journal Article Bearman, C. & Bremner, P. A. Don't just do something, stand there! Mitigating goal seduction in emergency management. National Emergency Response 29, 12-17 (2016).
2016 Report Every, D. et al. Capturing community experiences in the 2015 Sampson Flat fire. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2016 Journal Article Every, D. et al. Contacts versus connectors: The role of Community Fire Safe Group coordinators in achieving positive bushfire safety outcomes. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 19, (2016).
2016 Report Bearman, C. et al. Decision making, team monitoring and organisational learning in emergency management: Annual project report 2015-2016. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2016).
2015 Report Trigg, J. et al. Capturing community experiences: South Australian bushfires January 2014. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
2015 Journal Article Bearman, C., Grunwald, J., Brooks, B. & Owen, C. Breakdowns in coordinated decision making at and above the incident management team level: An analysis of three large scale Australian wildfires. Applied Ergonomics 47, 16-25 (2015).
2015 Conference Paper Owen, C., Brooks, B. & Bearman, C. Challenges of Measuring Emergency Management Performance Under Adversity: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly Conference Paper 2014. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC and AFAC Wellington Conference 2014 (2015).
2015 Report Bearman, C. Decision making, team monitoring and organisational performance: Part three team performance monitoring research stream. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
2015 Report Bearman, C., Brooks, B. & Owen, C. Practical Decision Tools for Improved Decision-Making in Complex Situations Annual Report 2014. (2015).
2015 Report Bearman, C. et al. Decision making, team monitoring and organisational performance: Part One Executive Summary. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
2015 Report Bearman, C. et al. Practical decision tools for improved decision-making in complex, time-constrained and multi-team environments: Annual project report 2014-2015. (Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, 2015).
2013 Conference Proceedings Owen, C. et al. Politics, Policies and Paradigms: Challenges of Change in Future Emergency Management. 2013 Annual Conference (2013). at <http://www.bushfirecrc.com/resources/research-report/politics-policies-and-paradigms-challenges-change-future-emergency-managem>
2013 Journal Article Bearman, C. & Bremner, P. A. A day in the life of a volunteer incident commander: Errors, pressures and mitigating strategies. Applied Ergonomics 44, 488 - 495 (2013).
2013 Report Owen, C., Bosomworth, K., Bearman, C. & Brooks, B. Strategic emergency management in Australia and New Zealand - discussion paper on implications of research. (2013).
2013 Conference Proceedings Bearman, C., Owen, C., Brooks, B. & Grunwald, J. The Problems of Maintaining Effective Teamwork During Out-of-Scale Events. 2013 Research Forum (2013). at <http://www.bushfirecrc.com/resources/research-report/problems-maintaining-effective-teamwork-during-out-scale-events>

Posters credited

Practical decision tools for improved decision-making in complex situations
Practical decision tools for improved decision-making in complex situations

There is increasing pressure on agencies from larger-scale natural hazards, financial constraints and declining volunteer numbers.

What can derail decision making? A phase model perspective
What can derail decision making? A phase model perspective

Phase models are a common way to frame decision making in emergency management. 

A Twelve Step Program Towards Safety Redemption in Emergency Management
A Twelve Step Program Towards Safety Redemption in Emergency Management

The journey towards a mature system for managing safety has previously been imagined as a 'ladder' that organisations need to climb. Our research suggests there are twelve steps on this ladder for an organisation to achieve 'safety redemption'.

Key Topics:
emergency management, policy
Decision Making, Team Monitoring and Organisational Learning
Decision Making, Team Monitoring and Organisational Learning

This Project aims to provide enhanced ways of:

  • Making decisions in complex situations
  • Monitoring teams to detect problems
  • Learning from operational performance
Key Topics:
decision making
Chris Bearman Conference Poster 2016
Decision making, team monitoring and organisational learning

This project has three main research streams that are:
•Providing enhanced methods of making decisions;
•Developing methods to better monitor and modify the behavior of teams
•Identifying the enablers and barriers to organizational learning

Key Topics:
infrastructure, resilience
Decision making, team monitoring & organisational learning: 2017 update
Decision making, team monitoring & organisational learning: 2017 update

This project has three main research streams that are:

  • Providing enhanced methods of making decisions;
  • Developing methods to better monitor and modify the behavior of teams
  • Identifying the enablers and barriers to organizational learning
Key Topics:
decision making, emergency management

Resources credited

Type Released Title Download Key Topics
Presentation-Slideshow 08 Sep 2014 Challenges of measuring emergency management performance under adversity PDF icon Save (1.69 MB) decision making
Presentation-Audio-Video 20 Oct 2014 Measuring EM performance under adversity: The good, the bad, the ugly capability, emergency management
HazardNoteEdition 19 Mar 2015 How three South Australian communities responded to the 2014 bushfires PDF icon Save (130.53 KB) communication, communities, decision making
Presentation-Slideshow 10 Apr 2015 Decision Making 2015 NSW RAF Presentation PDF icon Save (1.98 MB) decision making, education
HazardNoteEdition 06 Apr 2016 Sampson Flat community bushfire experiences PDF icon Save (519.63 KB) communities, fire, fire impacts
Presentation-Slideshow 17 May 2016 Decision making, team monitoring and organisational learning PDF icon Save (1.79 MB) communication, decision making, multi-hazard
Presentation-Slideshow 30 Aug 2016 "I’m going to be frightened out of my wits": Insights on psychological preparedness from the Sampson Flat fire - Danielle Every PDF icon Save (970.63 KB) communication, communities, fire
Presentation-Slideshow 30 Aug 2016 Team monitoring tools - Chris Bearman PDF icon Save (674.21 KB) capability, decision making, emergency management
Presentation-Audio-Video 27 Oct 2016 Practical decision tools for improved decision-making - project overview File Save (0 bytes) decision making, emergency management, multi-hazard
Presentation-Slideshow 18 Apr 2017 Team monitoring, decision making & organisational learning PDF icon Save (1.33 MB) decision making, emergency management
HazardNoteEdition 23 Jun 2017 Tools to enhance emergency management team performance PDF icon Save (568.01 KB) decision making, emergency management, multi-hazard
HazardNoteEdition 28 Jun 2017 Helping agencies learn from experience PDF icon Save (656.75 KB) decision making, education, risk management
Presentation-Slideshow 07 Jul 2017 Enhancing capability in emergency management PDF icon Save (1.15 MB) capability, decision making, emergency management
Presentation-Slideshow 07 Sep 2017 Enhancing teamwork PDF icon Save (349.78 KB) capability, decision making, emergency management
Presentation-Slideshow 16 Apr 2018 Team monitoring, decision making & organisational learning PDF icon Save (1.41 MB) decision making, emergency management
Guide-Fact Sheet 16 May 2018 Emergency Management Breakdown Aide Memoire PDF icon Save (118.74 KB) communication, decision making, emergency management
Guide-Fact Sheet 16 May 2018 Team Process Checklist PDF icon Save (99.05 KB) communication, decision making, emergency management
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AFAC17 logo

AFAC17 logo

All the resources from our 2017 conference

National research priorities for natural hazards

National research priorities for natural hazards

National priorities for research

The Sir Ivan fire. Photo: Nick Moir, Fairfax Media

The Sir Ivan fire. Photo: Nick Moir, Fairfax Media

Research findings from 2017 NSW fires

Four years of highlights

Bushfire planning with kids ebook

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