Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book reminds engineers of some of the quirks of human nature so that they can better allow for them in design. The method describes accidents which at first sight were due to human error and then discusses the most effective ways of preventing them happening again. The accidents occurred mainly, though not entirely, in the oil and chemical industries, but nevertheless should interest all engineers, not just chemical engineers, and indeed all those who work in design or production. Human errors occur for various reasons and different actions are needed to prevent or avoid the different sorts of error. The book discusses those errors made by managers, especially senior managers, because they do not realize that they could do more to prevent accidents. The output from an accident investigation may tell us much about the culture of the company where it occurred.