ABSTRACT
Organizational processes - decisions taken in the higher echelons of the system - seed organizational pathogens into the system at large. This chapter describes the remedial implications of the theoretical framework that have been pointed out at various points. The remedial applications of the theory are both proactive and reactive. By specifying the organizational and situational factors involved in the causal pathways, it is possible to identify potentially dangerous latent failures before they combine to cause an accident. The same framework can also be used in reverse to track back from some incident or accident, via the active and latent failure pathways to their organizational roots. The chapter discusses the scope of accident analysis from individuals to organizations, from the 'sharp end' to the top-level management of the air transportation system as a whole. Both local triggering factors and random variations can assist in creating trajectories of accident opportunity.
