The Warning Signs

The bridge had been inspected. The building’s cracks had been reported. The alarms had sounded before. Engineers had raised concerns, workers had noticed unusual smells and residents had warned that something was wrong. Yet traffic continued, factories remained open, launches proceeded and people were told that the danger was under control. The Warning Signs investigates some of history’s most devastating preventable disasters, from the collapse of the Tay and Silver bridges to Rana Plaza, Grenfell Tower, Bhopal, Piper Alpha, Deepwater Horizon, Challenger, Columbia, Aberfan, Vajont, Fukushima and many others. Through twenty-five carefully researched case studies, it traces the cracks, leaks, failed tests, abnormal readings, defective safeguards and ignored human voices that appeared before catastrophe. More than a history of engineering failures, this is a study of human decision-making. It examines why organisations grow accustomed to dangerous conditions, why previous survival is mistaken for proof of safety, why inconvenient evidence loses urgency as it moves through management and why the cost of stopping often appears more important than the disaster that stopping might prevent. Clear, compelling and grounded in official investigations, The Warning Signs reveals that many catastrophes do not begin with a single mistake. They develop slowly as maintenance is postponed, responsibilities are divided, alarms become routine and uncertainty is repeatedly interpreted in favour of continuing. By the time the sirens sound, the last meaningful opportunity to act may already have passed.