In this episode I chat with Dr Yasmin Endlich, Medical Director at webAIRS, web based Anaesthesia Incident Reporting System. We currently have over 13,000 reports in webAIRS, making it one of the world's largest incident reporting systems.

We chat about the various analyses (currently over 30 underway!), what's happening behind the scenes and how we will be discussing de-identified incident reports at the up and coming Australian Society of Anaesthetists M&M meeting. I also couldn't help discussing safety-II principles - examining what went right to prevent harm rather than only analysing failures.

Three action items to consider:

1. Come to the next ASA M&M meeting! 29th June 2026. Complimentary registration for ASA members. Register or find the next event here
2. Join webAIRS user, if you haven't already. Any anaesthetist or trainee member of the ASA is eligible.
3. Report your incidents. Including the near misses. Help us better develop a safety-II approach

Three more podcasts on webAIRS:

Ep54. webAIRS with Prof Martin Culwick

Ep57. webAIRS: Lingual Nerve Injury

Ep79. webAIRS: Jaw Dislocation

Some AI generated notes:

Key Takeaways

webAIRS is the world's largest anesthetic incident reporting system with over 13,000 reports, enabling rare event analysis and evidence-based safety improvements across Australia and New Zealand.

Safety-II methodology—analysing what went right in near misses and no-harm events—offers a complementary approach to traditional incident analysis and may drive more effective safety interventions

Implementation science remains underdeveloped in anaesthesia. Most institutions adapt to safety recommendations but rarely publish their implementation processes, limiting knowledge sharing and replication

webAIRS supports institutional M&M programs through anonymous, de-identified case access with categorization tools. ASA is launching exclusive member M&M events using webAIRS data

Registration with webAIRS offers dual benefits: self-reflection and learning for individual reporters, plus contribution to community-wide safety analysis. Reporting is legally privileged, anonymous, and eligible for CPD credit

Quotable Moments

"We understand that the health system is a complex beast, which we as humans are constantly adapting and adjusting or creating workarounds to keep things safe for our patients and usually efficient as well."

"We report a lot. So the numbers of our reports are there. Then they get assessed. But the reporting back and then looking at systems and then looking how to improve things and going up the pyramid to reduce adverse events, that's basically where it stops in most healthcare areas."

"It's not only important for oneself when you report as it's a part of self-reflection. It is a part of working through an incident yourself as well. But it also benefits the wider community."

"We don't want is anybody who has reported an incident feel like, oh, we are not treating the data safely. We 100% are. And it will stay anonymous and it will stay completely de-identifiable as well."