High Reliability Organizations: Unlikely, Demanding and At Risk

The HRO project is cast within a broader socio-political context, by first, reviewing its practical origins, its conceptual/logical framework, and a summary of the project's provisional findings, including a brief observation about the importance of a ‘culture of reliability.’Then some socio/political implications for HROs are explored as they assume the status of large technical systems (LTSs) and become quasi-public institutions. This paper ends with a reflection on the challenges of institutional trustworthiness that confront HRO operators, managers, and overseers.