Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 132
Quotes from book
Normal Accidents
Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies is a 1984 book by Yale sociologist Charles Perrow, which provides a detailed analysis of complex systems from a sociological perspective. It was the first to "propose a framework for characterizing complex technological systems such as air traffic, marine traffic, chemical plants, dams, and especially nuclear power plants according to their riskiness". Perrow argues that multiple and unexpected failures are built into society's complex and tightly coupled systems. Such accidents are unavoidable and cannot be designed around.Perrow's argument, based on systemic features and human error, is that big accidents tend to escalate, and technology is not the problem, the organizations are. Each of these principles is still relevant today.
“Most normal accidents have a significant degree of incomprehensibility.”
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 23
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 356
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 4
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 127
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 334
Source: 1980s and later, Normal Accidents, 1984, p. 23
