FRAM

Erik Hollnagel

Ph.D., Professor, Professor Emeritus

 

Hollnagel, E. (2012). FRAM - The Functional Resonance Analysis Method: Modelling Complex Socio-technical Systems. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.

Japanese translation: 社会技術システムの安全分析 : FRAMガイドブック. Tokyo, Japan: Kaibundo (2013).

Chinese translation: 功能共振分析方法--复杂社会技术系统建模. Beijing, China: National Defense Industry Press (2015).

Korean translation: 안전패러다임의 전환 II (안전시스템의 과거와 미래). Seoul, South Korea: SEJIN Publishing

Virtually all design is conducted in a state of relative ignorance of the full behaviour of the system being designed.

Henry Petroski

A State of (Relative) Ignorance

When a system is designed there is from the very beginning a need to know how it will function. Indeed, the very reason for system design is to construct an artefact that provides an intended functionality. In Henry Petroski’s book about ‘Design Paradigms,’ from which the above epigraph is taken, the topic was engineering design, and the majority of examples were physical structures and static systems, such as bridges. The ‘behaviour’ of a bridge is seemingly simple: it just has to be there and to maintain its own structure in order to allow safe passage for whoever or whatever uses it. Yet even in this case there is

(more ...)