Understanding Disasters to Enhance Workplace Safety with Edward Tenner

In this episode, Mary Conquest speaks with Edward Tenner, a renowned author and lecturer at Princeton University, whose work explores the intersections of history, technology, and safety.

Edward draws on his seminar “Understanding Disasters,” examining major events like the Titanic, the World Trade Centre, Fukushima and Covid to expose how hidden risks can break safety systems.

He highlights how overlooked factors such as ‘gray rhinos’ and ‘mode errors’ have contributed to serious failures, demonstrating the unintended consequences of well-meaning safety measures.

Through examples of expert decisions and system designs that didn’t work as intended, he encourages safety managers to vigilantly scan the horizon for subtle signals of weaknesses..

This episode offers EHS professionals practical insights and historical lessons that help you identify emerging hazards to make workplaces safer.

Find out more about Edward’s work, books and essays: Edward Tenner - Welcome

You can read Edward’s latest essay here: Are We Getting Dumber? - Milken Institute Review

Other books recommended by Edward:

Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America: Petroski, Henry

Normal Accidents – Living with High Risk Technologies: Perrow, Charles

Edward Tennor on LinkedIn: Edward Tenner | LinkedIn

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