Dr. Reason is recognized as a world-leading expert on human error, with a distinguished career spanning industry, healthcare, and academia. He is a graduate of the University of Manchester and held the position of Professor of Psychology from 1977 to 2001. Professor Reason is probably best known for his “Swiss Cheese” Accident Causation Model which he published in 1990. While attending Murray State Univesity in the early 1990’s, the causation model was all the rage and it is still very popular today, especially in process safety when discussing “Layers of Protection”. But Professor Reason is also known, albeit to a much lesser degree than his swiss cheese model, for his 12 Principles of Error Management.
Here are his 12 Principles of Error Management: