Normal Accidents: Living with High-risk Technologies - Softcover

Perrow, Charles

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0465051448 ISBN 13: 9780465051441

Publisher: Basic Books, 1985

Synopsis

Analyzes the social side of technological risk. Charles Perrow argues that the conventional engineering approach to ensuring safety - building in more warnings and safeguards - fails because systems complexity makes failures inevitable.

About this title

Review:

"Normal Accidents is a testament to the value of rigorous thinking when applied to a critical problem."--Nick Pidgeon, Nature

[Normal Accidents is] a penetrating study of catastrophes and near catastrophes in several high-risk industries. Mr. Perrow ... writes lucidly and makes it clear that `normal' accidents are the inevitable consequences of the way we launch industrial ventures.... An outstanding analysis of organizational complexity.---John Pfeiffer, The New York Times

"[Normal Accidents is] a penetrating study of catastrophes and near catastrophes in several high-risk industries. Mr. Perrow ... writes lucidly and makes it clear that `normal' accidents are the inevitable consequences of the way we launch industrial ventures.... An outstanding analysis of organizational complexity."--John Pfeiffer, The New York Times

[Perrow's] research undermines promises that `better management' and `more operator training' can eliminate catastrophic accidents. In doing so, he challenges us to ponder what could happen to justice, community, liberty, and hope in a society where such events are normal.---Deborah A. Stone, Technology Review

Normal Accidents is a testament to the value of rigorous thinking when applied to a critical problem.---Nick Pidgeon, Nature

"[Perrow's] research undermines promises that `better management' and `more operator training' can eliminate catastrophic accidents. In doing so, he challenges us to ponder what could happen to justice, community, liberty, and hope in a society where such events are normal."--Deborah A. Stone, Technology Review

About the Author:

Charles Perrow is Professor of Sociology at Yale University. His other books include The Radical Attack on Business, Organizational Analysis: A Sociological View, Complex Organizations: A Critical Essay, and The AIDS Disaster: The Failure of Organizations in New York and the Nation.

About this edition

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 1985
• ISBN 10: 0465051448
• ISBN 13: 9780465051441
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400