ABSTRACT
This book presents the collection of contributions to the Berlin Colloquium 2001. Its goal is to open a door, or many doors, to both the ordinary and the extraordinary conditions of workers in 'ordinarily extraordinary' working environments. The book begins with a narrative account of one of the greatest rescue successes to this day: the salvaging of the Russian nuclear submarine, 'Kursk'. In addition to monetary or material loss, the occupational fields presented in the book bring with them the risk to human life – all the more reason to examine them closely and determine if there are ways to increase safety and minimize risk, possibly through more intense focus on the communication and interaction among those involved. The safety of the men and women behind the statistics often depends on their own and others' ability to communicate and interact.
