What do the Erebus plane crash and leaky building syndrome have in common? Both are "organisational accidents" with many contributing causes. Andrew McGregor tells CHARLOTTE STAPLETON how understanding these causes can help us prevent accidents in other organisational contexts. ENGINEERS INVESTIGATE ACCIDENTS, engineering failures and mistakes to assist the process of apportioning loss or preventing a recurrence. Andrew McGregor MIPENZ, a consulting mechanical engineer and experienced accident and engineering failure investigator, says that "people naturally assume that there is always a 'root cause' and a single person or entity to blame". His experience as an accident investigator suggests otherwise: "there is seldom a root cause and, contrary to initial appearances, there can be many significant causes which are generated within the depths of an organisation or regulatory body". Regrettably, however, it is often easier to blame and take action against individuals rather than organisations.
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