ABSTRACT
In today’s rapidly changing world, within societal and organizational systems of ever-increasing complexity and interactivity, more and more, our safety, health, and security depends on the steady, reliable functioning of these systems. Yet we do not understand enough about them and the architectural rules for their construction and operation. Certainly, significant strides have been made at the lower levels of systems in terms of the safe operation of tasks and procedures, but we still do not properly understand the wider context in which these ergonomics efforts for greater safety occur. It is possible, therefore, that despite the best efforts of ergonomists and other safety experts, their work is vitiated by higher-level issues that have not been taken into account. This discussion deals with the issue of “drift to disaster” and its avoidance through good corporate governance.
