We must not have a culture of trying to hide our mistakes in engineering. However, there are various reasons engineers may hide their mistakes, ranging from professional and personal pride through to a fear of exposing ourselves to liability. Unfortunately, doing so doesn’t provide learning opportunities for others.
We are looking for the human factors as well as the technical details of failures and mistakes so we can learn lessons. In most cases, human error in one form or another was the root of the problem in most cases. The most common issues were:
- Poor communication between parties
- Constraints around resources – time/money
- Incomplete understanding of the issues being solved
- Ethical issues
Engineering New Zealand and the technical groups are collaborating to bring to life the common causes of mistakes across the different disciplines. We will be doing this by exploring case-studies of large mistakes as well as examples of smaller, common errors
Upcoming webinar
Lessons from History - 150 Years of Engineering Disasters
Join us online on 7 October, 12–1pm to explore seven consequential engineering disasters from the past 150 years, spanning ships, storage tanks, bridges, chemical plants, structures and dams. Geo Grobbelaar will examine the recurring factors behind these events and draw out practical lessons that engineers and asset managers can apply to identify risks, respond to warning signs and support sound engineering decisions.
