Born: United Kingdom
Primarily active in: United Kingdom

1939-2025

Dr. James Reason, Pioneering Psychologist and Safety Expert

Dr. James Reason was a British professor of psychology at the University of Manchester, from where he graduated in 1962 and where he was a tenured professor from 1977 until 2001.

Reason wrote books on human error, including such aspects as absent-mindedness, aviation human factors, maintenance errors and risk management for organizational accidents. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2003 New Year Honours “for services to Reducing the Risk in Healthcare.” He was also an honorary fellow of the Safety and Reliability Society.

Among his many contributions was the introduction of the Swiss cheese model — described as one of "the most influential concepts in aviation accident prevention” by Aviation Week — in his 1990 book, Human Error. The Swiss cheese model is a conceptual framework for the description of accidents based on the notion that accidents will happen only if multiple barriers fail, thus creating a path from an initiating cause all the way to the ultimate, unwanted consequences, such as harm to people, assets, the environment, etc. Reason also described the first fully developed theory of a just culture, another major tenet of aviation safety, in his 1997 book, Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents.

Reason transformed safety management across multiple industries, including healthcare, aviation, and engineering. His perspective shifted from viewing humans solely as hazards to recognizing them as essential resources for safety, fundamentally changing how organizations approach risk management and human error. As a human factors safety expert, Reason also contributed to a number of training videos.

Dr. James Tootle Reason passed away on Feb. 5, 2025 at the age of 86.

Society Updates: Vertiflite, March/April 2025