The UK rail industry 1993-2000 : a case study of risk management across the public-private sector interface
The UK rail industry 1993-2000 : a case study of risk management across the public-private sector interface
The research examines the utility of the scientific perception of risk in the context of the experience of the UK Railway system between 1993 - 2000; a period that saw the fragmentation of the industry as the privatisation process came to fruition. Particular attention is paid to the utility of Quantitative Risk Assessment techniques, such as Cost benefit Analysis in identifying and informing decisions about risk, in the newly open system that characterised the Rail industry in this period. In this, regard is taken of Charles Perrow’s theories about the inevitability of accidents in systems that are complex and which use advanced technology; an inevitability that leads him to conclude that they are ‘Normal’ accidents. The conclusion is that in the complex and interdependent industries such as the privatised rail industry, such techniques have proven inadequate and inappropriate, due to institutional and organisational failings.
University of Southampton
Smith, Geoffrey Peter
20c36898-a152-4761-ad1f-35392e67204d
2002
Smith, Geoffrey Peter
20c36898-a152-4761-ad1f-35392e67204d
Smith, Geoffrey Peter
(2002)
The UK rail industry 1993-2000 : a case study of risk management across the public-private sector interface.
University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Record type:
Thesis
(Doctoral)
Abstract
The research examines the utility of the scientific perception of risk in the context of the experience of the UK Railway system between 1993 - 2000; a period that saw the fragmentation of the industry as the privatisation process came to fruition. Particular attention is paid to the utility of Quantitative Risk Assessment techniques, such as Cost benefit Analysis in identifying and informing decisions about risk, in the newly open system that characterised the Rail industry in this period. In this, regard is taken of Charles Perrow’s theories about the inevitability of accidents in systems that are complex and which use advanced technology; an inevitability that leads him to conclude that they are ‘Normal’ accidents. The conclusion is that in the complex and interdependent industries such as the privatised rail industry, such techniques have proven inadequate and inappropriate, due to institutional and organisational failings.
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Published date: 2002
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Local EPrints ID: 465301
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/465301
PURE UUID: 50b885ed-5238-438a-a878-c69ddaabd76f
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Date deposited: 05 Jul 2022 00:36
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 20:05
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Author:
Geoffrey Peter Smith
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