Socio‐technical Disasters: Profile and Prevalence

In: Disaster prevention and management: an international journal, Band 3, Heft 4, S. 41-69

Abstract

Examines socio‐technical disasters, particularly during the 1980s and
1990s, listing the organizational situations in which they occur and
singling out Hillsborough (football) and Kesworth (aeroplane) for
detailed treatment. Deals with various aspects of the socio‐technical
disaster: the disaster sequence; signals and triggers; the extensive
damage to human life and the physical environment; the large economic
and social costs; responses to and resolution of crises, among others.
After discussing the simple and complex causes of socio‐technical
disasters, urges management to learn from past disasters and make
organizational changes. Concludes that this type of disaster will
continue in the 1990s in ordinary organizations which are potentially
socio‐technically disaster‐prone.