This book provides an analysis of the origin and effect of human errors in engineering. Using cases from everyday construction and large-scale accidents, the circumstances associated with the creation of errors are illustrated, along with strategies for their prevention, with the goal to eventually minimize cost overruns, delays, and accidents.

The book features a discussion of the circumstances related to error proneness, the review of some sixty mishaps or near misses from real-life construction, the systematic analysis of 238 large-scale accidents in engineering systems, the perspective of psychology on the origin of faulty human performance, and a review of the relation of management to error proneness.