Flirting with Disaster: Why Accidents Are Rarely Accidental

When I first became interested in health and safety issues I was told that accidents rarely happen but were usually caused and it has taken several decades for a book to come out which explains the science behind that belief. Topics ranging from whistleblowing to the butterfly effect are covered as well as the social, psychological, and cultural impediments to good practice. Using a well‐selected series of case studies which vary from the historic, such as the space shuttle crashes, to the modern, such as the sub‐prime lending crisis, the author leads the reader through the background theory in an understandable and comprehensive manner.

One of the underpinning faults that reoccurs throughout the case studies is that of institutional risk blindness which can arise from a wide variety of perfectly acceptable, at that time or during the design or build stages, reasons such as cost, disruption, unknown quantification of facts, or the need for a quick fix!

These and a wide range of other excuses and faults are dealt with in this good book.

But the moral of the story is the plain fact “that accidents are rarely accidental” and could be avoided.