Dr. Charles Perrow Died on November 12, 2019

RIP Charles Perrow

Sometimes it is worth commenting on someone’s passing even if you don’t find out about it until long after it happens. Such is the case with Dr. Charles Perrow, Organizational Sociologist and author of Normal Accidents.

I read Normal Accidents while I was doing human factors research at the University of Illinois in 1985. Even though the book didn’t get all the technical facts about nuclear power right, it was an interesting way to look at accident causation and managing societal risk.

I was digging back into Normal Accident Theory today when I ran across Charles Perrow’s obituary. It said he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 94.

I tried to get Charles to speak at the Summit back in about 2010. He was friendly and interesting, but he said his research had moved on from Normal Accident Theory and he just didn’t want to talk about that anymore.

He was an interesting man with interesting ideas and will be missed.