# Normal Accidents

*Tom Geraghty · Safety & Human Error, Complexity & Systems*

Summarises Charles Perrow's Normal Accident Theory: that in tightly coupled, complex systems, accidents are a near-inevitable systemic output, not a human failure. Shows how measures intended to improve resilience can inadvertently increase complexity — and therefore risk.

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## Connected concepts (16)

- [Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/perrow-1984.md) (paper)
- [Organizing for High Reliability: Processes of Collective Mindfulness](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/weick-sutcliffe-obstfeld-1999.md) (paper)
- [Risk Management in a Dynamic Society: A Modelling Problem](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/rasmussen-1997.md) (paper)
- [The Challenger Launch Decision: Risky Technology, Culture, and Deviance at NASA](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/vaughan-1996.md) (paper)
- [Working in Practice But Not in Theory: Theoretical Challenges of "High-Reliability Organizations"](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/laporte-consolini-1991.md) (paper)
- [Normalisation of Deviance (Challenger)](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/normalisation-of-deviance.md)
- [Why Hospitals Don't Learn from Failures: Organizational and Dynamics That Inhibit System Change](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/tucker-edmondson-2003.md) (paper)
- [Collective Mind in Organizations: Heedful Interrelating on Flight Decks](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/weick-roberts-1993.md) (paper)
- [The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations: The Mann Gulch Disaster](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/weick-1993-manngulch.md) (paper)
- [The Cost of Silence: Normalization of Deviance and Groupthink](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/nasa-normalization-deviance-2014.md) (paper)
- [Dr Richard Cook](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-78-dr-richard-cook.md)
- [Human Error & PS](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-human-error.md)
- [Resilience Engineering](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-resilience-engineering.md)
- [Safety I & Safety II](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/psychological-safety-73-safety-i-safety-ii.md)
- [Swiss Cheese Model](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/the-swiss-cheese-model.md)
- [Safety Organised Criticality](https://explore.psychsafety.com/n/safety-organised-criticality-socy.md)