Active failure
Definition
An error or rule violation by a front-line operator whose effects are felt immediately. Active failures are the triggers Reason calls 'unsafe acts'; they represent the end of the accident chain, not its root.
Related terms
- Blowout preventer (BOP)
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- Bow-tie analysis
- A risk-visualisation method combining a fault tree (left of the bow-tie, hazard to critical event) with an event tree (right, critical event...
- Latent condition
- In Reason's model, a pre-existing organisational weakness (poor design, defective procedure, unrealistic scheduling, inadequate training) that lies dormant until aligned with other...
- Safety Management System (SMS)
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- Swiss Cheese Model
- James Reason's accident causation model representing each defensive barrier as a cheese slice with holes. An accident occurs when holes in successive...
Explained in
- Safety Management Systems and Systemic FailureAn error or rule violation by a front-line operator whose effects are felt immediately. Active failures are the triggers Reason calls 'unsafe acts'; they repre...