Minding the Machines: Preventing Technological Disasters

Why do technological disasters occur -- and how can we prevent them?

• A systematic analysis of technological risk -- and how to minimize it.
• More than 30 case studies of technological disaster, from Challenger to Bhopal: analysis and lessons learned.
• Identifying the role of corporations, the legal system, engineering schools, professionals, and individual citizens in preventing technological disaster.

Technological disasters can impact every area of a corporation's infrastructure, not to mention its reputation and bottom line. This book explores today's best strategies -- organizational, professional, political and legal -- for reducing the incidence of technological catastrophe and mitigating its vast human cost. Technological breakthroughs have revolutionized our lives, but some of them have also led to catastrophe. In this book, two leading experts in technological risk assessment and mitigation analyze nearly three dozen disasters -- from Chernobyl to Challenger, the Bhopal gas leak to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. They present lessons learned and preventive strategies for all four leading causes of disaster: technical design, human factors, organizational system factors, and socio-cultural factors. They also identify appropriate preventive roles for every participant in technological systems, from corporations to individual citizens. For everyone concerned with the risks of technological disaster: educated laypeople, corporate executives, R&D professionals, practicing engineers and scientists, regulators, lawyers, policymakers, and many others.

Table of Contents

List of Tables.
List of Figures.
Preface.
Invitation to Our Readers.
Acknowledgments.

I. INTRODUCTION.

1. Technological Disasters: An Overview.
2. Natural and Human-Made Disasters.

II. THE PREVALENCE OF TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS.

3. The Year 2000 (Y2K) Debacle: An Ironic Failure of Information Technology.
4. Theories of Technological Disasters.
5. The Root Causes of Technological Disasters.

III. TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS SINCE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

6. Three Industrial Revolutions and Beyond.
7. A Matrix of Technological Disasters.

IV. ANALYSIS OF CASE STUDIES OF TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS.

8. Twelve Exemplary Case Studies of Technological Disasters.
9. Lessons Learned From the Case Studies of Technological Disasters.

V. STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO TECHNOLOGICAL DISASTERS.

10. The Responsibilities of Engineers and Scientists.
11. The Role of Corporations in the Management of Technological Disasters.
12. The Role of the Legal System in Technology Policy Decisions.
13. Assessing the Risks of Technology.
14. Technology Decisions and the Democratic Process.
Name Index.
Subject Index.
List of Tables