Frankenstein homes: would you want to live in one? Bruce Taylor SEARCH (Scottish Centre for Environmental Design Research) Robert Gordon University Aberdeen

System accidents Arise from the unanticipated interaction of multiple failures or events System characterics that make them prone to this failure mode:  Complex interactions  Tight coupling

Complex System Input Output Input Output

Linear System InputOutput

Complex system characteristics  Proximity of part or units that are not in a operational sequence  Many common mode connections between components (parts, units or sub-systems) not in an operational sequence  Unfamiliar or unintended feedback loops  Many control parameters with potential interactions  Indirect or inferential information sources Limited understanding of some processes

Loosely coupled systems  flexibility in the way compoents interact  ambiguous or flexible performance standards  lack of monitoring

Engineering risk assessment  based on moneterisation of social good  cannot handle the difference between imposition of risk and acceptance of risk

Whose risk assessment?  clients  carers  health professionals

“Dread Risk”  lack of control over the activity  fatal consequences if there was a mishap of some sort  high catastrophic potential  reactions of dread  inequitable distribution of risks and benefits (including transfer of risks to future generations)  belief that risks are increasing and not easily reducible

“Unkown Risks”  unknown  unobservable  new delayed in their manifestation