A Life in Error: From Little Slips to Big Disasters

by James Reason

This succinct but absorbing book covers the main way stations on James Reason’s 40-year journey in pursuit of the nature and varieties of human error. He presents an engrossing and very personal perspective, offering the reader exceptional insights, wisdom and wit as only James Reason can. A Life in Error charts the development of his seminal and hugely influential work from its original focus on individual cognitive psychology through the broadening of scope to embrace social, organizational and systemic issues.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology

152 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

James Tootle Reason was a professor of psychology at the University of Manchester, from where he graduated in 1962 and where he was a tenured professor from 1977 until 2001. He wrote books on human error, including such aspects as absent-mindedness, aviation human factors, maintenance errors, and risk management for organizational accidents. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary DSc by the University of Aberdeen. He was a Fellow of the British Academy, the British Psychological Society, the Royal Aeronautical Society, and the Royal College of General Practitioners. He received a CBE in 2003 for his services in the reduction of the risks in health care. In 2011 he was elected an honorary fellow of the Safety and Reliability Society.
Among his many contributions is the introduction of the Swiss cheese model, a conceptual framework for the description of accidents based on the notion that accidents will happen only if multiple barriers fail, thus creating a path from an initiating cause all the way to the ultimate, unwanted consequences, such as harm to people, assets, the environment, etc. Reason also described the first fully developed theory of a just culture in his 1997 book, Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents.

Reviews

[Maja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m gonna add the course literature to this because I read that shit and it better count towards my reading goal. Also why is this book so expensive? Like 60€ for a 200 something page book? Absolute daylight robbery

[Jozef · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ik dacht dat ik een goed wetenschappelijk onderbouwd boek over veiligheid (op het werk) vast had. Het is me toch to aangeraden geweest. Maar verschillende hoofdstukken aan een stuk draait hij rond de pot over een persoonlijke ervaring waarbij hij thee aan het zetten was en toen de kat om eten kwam bedelen deed hij kattenvoer in het kokende water in plaats van theeblaadjes.
Leek me een leuke intro, maar gedurende meerdere hoofdstukken wordt hier verder op ingegaan en ik dacht alsmaar: wanneer gaat hij eindelijk op het onderwerp ingaan. De psychologie achter missen en wat eraan doen. Daar was ik op aan het wachten, maar het kwam niet. En dan kwam het hoofdstuk "Freudian slip revisited". En ik gaf hem daarin nog krediet denkende dat hij dit enkel allegorisch bedoelde. Maar naarmate ik verder las werd de charlatan Freud meer en meer bejubeld.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is James Reason's valedictory book on his pursuit of the nature of human error. What began in his kitchen with a slip involving putting cat food in his teapot blossomed into a forty year career at the forefront of human error psychology. If you have read any of Reason's books you're unlikely to learn too much here as the book is short and is mainly a kind of retrospective on some highlights. So we get quick retellings of error classification, Rasmussen's performance levels, active & latent failures, violations and a little bit of Swiss cheese. There is a chapter on organisational failures (he's previously written a book about this) and a couple of chapters on error within the medical profession. These were interesting as they highlighted how the prevailing culture in the health industry stymies learning with regard to error. Training a doctor is long and expensive and they are expected to get it right. The consequence is that medical errors are thus stigmatised and there is no history of recording and learning. But it seems things are improving.

A quick, personal and enjoyable review of human error, but see his other books for more depth.

[Gallottino · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the J. Reason's journey into the human error and his theories about this topic. From the Swiss Cheese model to the analysis of latent conditions , the blame circle and many other stunning considerations about the human fallibility. Very good the final chapter about error in health care. Thank you James, sei un mito!!!!

[Deepak Nalla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Understanding human error

Great book to understand an academic yet practical take on human error. Thoroughly, enjoyed reading this book; a must read for anyone who is planning to pursue a career in Human Factors.