Learning from Failures: Decision Analysis of Major Disasters

Learning from Failures provides techniques to explore the root causes of specific disasters and how we can learn from them. It focuses on a number of well-known case studies, including: the sinking of the Titanic; the BP Texas City incident; the Chernobyl disaster; the NASA Space Shuttle Columbia accident; the Bhopal disaster; and the Concorde accident. This title is an ideal teaching aid, informed by the author’s extensive teaching and practical experience and including a list of learning outcomes at the beginning of each chapter, detailed derivation, and many solved examples for modeling and decision analysis. This book discusses the value in applying different models as mental maps to analyze disasters. The analysis of these case studies helps to demonstrate how subjectivity that relies on opinions of experts can be turned into modeling approaches that can ensure repeatability and consistency of results. The book explains how the lessons learned by studying these individual cases can be applied to a wide range of industries. This work is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, and will also be useful for industry professionals who wish to avoid repeating mistakes that resulted in devastating consequences.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction to the Concept of Learning from Failures2. Introduction to Failure Analysis Techniques in Reliability Modeling3. Introduction to the Analytic Hierarchy Process4. The Bhopal Disaster - Learning from Failures and Evaluating Risk5 BP Deepwater Horizon6. Case Study: BP Texas City Disaster7. Chernobyl Disaster8. The Concorde Crash9. Fukushima Nuclear Disaster10. Hurricane Katrina Disaster11. NASA's Space Shuttle Columbia Accident12. The Titanic13. Introduction to the Concept of Generic Lesson as an Outcome of Learning from Failures14. A Model of Learning and Unlearning from Failures

About the Author :
Ashraf Labib is Professor of Operations and Decision Analysis at Portsmouth Business School, and before this was the Associate Dean (Research) of the Business School and Director of the DBA Programme. His main research interest lies in the field of Strategic Operations Management and Decision Analysis, including Manufacturing, Reliability Engineering and Maintenance Systems, Multiple Criteria Decision-Analysis and Applications of Artificial Intelligence such as Fuzzy Logic. Prior to joining Portsmouth Business School, Professor Labib was a Senior Lecturer in the Manufacturing Division of the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Manufacturing Engineering at UMIST. He has published 120-refereed papers in professional journals and international conferences proceedings and has attracted research-funded projects from EPSRC, ESRC, European Commission and industry. He have been involved in the design, development, and implementation of Computerised Maintenance Management Systems (CMMSs), Stock Control Spares and Ordering Systems for major companies in the automotive sector such as Land Rover, Rockwell, Peugeot Talbot and Federal Mogul - Ferodo.

Review :
"...create systematic ways of analysing the causes of disasters, using diagrams such as fault tree analysis (FTA) and reliability block diagrams." --Chemistry and Industry "...makes interesting reading and should be read by all those who want to specialize in the area of reliability engineering and understand the genesis of tragic events..." --International Journal of Performability Engineering "This is a must-read book for all students, engineers, leaders and managers concerned with safety and security during the life cycle of physical assets. The author presents clear in-depth analysis of disasters in a holistic manner underpinned by state-of-the-art scientific knowledge and innovative research providing concise practical lessons as well as models to learn from failures." --Dr Ayman Nassif, Principal Lecturer in Structural Engineering/Admissions Tutor, University of Portsmouth-School of Civil Engineering and Surveying "The author says that for organizations to successfully avoid major disasters they need to undertake risk and reliability analysis" (Irish Independent) "Experiencing failure and avoiding over-confidence could have prevented some of the world’s greatest disasters such as sinking the Titanic and the loss of two NASA space shuttles, according to new research by Professor Labib of the University of Portsmouth" (Belfast Telegraph) "The issue of the institutional safety culture is under intense scrutiny. This book provides a helpful alternative view of the evolution of information within an evolving safety culture. As such, it will be an important guide to risk managers and project supervisors". --Neal Langerman, Advanced Chemical Safety INC