The term Resilience Engineering represents a new way of thinking about safety. Whereas established risk management approaches are based on hindsight and emphasise error tabulation and calculation of failure probabilities, Resilience Engineering looks for ways to enhance the ability of organisations to create processes that are robust yet flexible, to monitor and revise risk models, and to use resources proactively in the face of disruptions or ongoing production and economic pressures. In Resilience Engineering failures do not stand for a breakdown or malfunctioning of normal system functions, but rather represent the converse of the adaptations necessary to cope with the real world complexity. Individuals and organisations must always adjust their performance to the current conditions; and because resources and time are finite it is inevitable that such adjustments are approximate. Success has been ascribed to the ability of groups, individuals, and organisations to anticipate the changing shape of risk before damage occurs; failure is simply the temporary or permanent absence of that.

The symposium is supported by the industrial safety chair of "Ecole des Mines de Paris". The chair is financed by "Ecole des Mines de Paris", FIMMM, TOTAL, APAVE, GDF, INERIS, ARCELOR, SNCF, AGF and the alumni association of "Ecole des Mines de Paris".

Volume 1: Remaining Sensitive to the Possibility of Failure
Erik Hollnagel, Christopher P. Nemeth and Sidney Dekker