Skip to Content
The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error, 2nd Edition
book

The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error, 2nd Edition

by Sidney Dekker
April 2017
Intermediate to advanced
252 pages
6h 32m
English
CRC Press
Content preview from The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error, 2nd Edition

1 The Bad Apple Theory

There are basically two ways of looking at human error. The first view is known as the Old View, or The Bad Apple Theory. It maintains that:

  • Complex systems would be fine, were it not for the erratic behavior of some unreliable people (Bad Apples) in it;
  • Human errors cause accidents: humans are the dominant contributor to more than two thirds of them;
  • Failures come as unpleasant surprises. They are unexpected and do not belong in the system. Failures are introduced to the system only through the inherent unreliability of people.

This chapter is about the first view. The second is about a contrasting view, known as the New View. The rest of the book helps you avoid the Old View and apply the New View to your understanding ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

AirBnbBlueOriginElectronic ArtsHomeDepotNasdaqRakutenTata Consultancy Services

QuotationMarkO’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
QuotationMarkI wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
QuotationMarkI’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
QuotationMarkI'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.
Mark W.
Embedded Software Engineer

You might also like

The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error', 3rd Edition

The Field Guide to Understanding 'Human Error', 3rd Edition

Sidney Dekker
Behind Human Error, 2nd Edition

Behind Human Error, 2nd Edition

David Woods, Sidney Dekker, Richard Cook, Leila Johannesen, Nadine Sarter

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781351889759