{{Short description|British psychologist (1938–2025)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox scientist |name = James Reason |honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]] |birth_name = James Tootle |birth_date = {{birth date|1938|5|1|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Garston, Hertfordshire]], England |death_date = {{death date and age|2025|2|4|1938|5|1|df=yes}} |death_place = [[Slough]], England |fields = Psychology |alma_mater = {{ubl|[[University of Manchester]]|[[University of Leicester]]}} |known_for = [[Swiss cheese model]] |workplaces = {{ubl|University of Leicester<ref name = Rosenwald/>|University of Manchester}} |spouse = {{marriage|Rea Jaari|1964}} |children = 2 }}
'''James Tootle Reason''' <small>[[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]</small> (né '''Tootle'''; 1 May 1938 – 4 February 2025) was a British professor of [[psychology]] at the [[University of Manchester]], from where he graduated in 1962 and was a tenured professor from 1977 until 2001.
Reason propounded the [[Swiss cheese model]] using the concept of layered security, used in risk analysis in many areas including aviation safety and emergency service organizations.
==Background== James Tootle was born in [[Garston, Hertfordshire]], on 1 May 1938.<ref name = Rosenwald>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/13/science/james-reason-dead.html|title = James Reason, Who Used Swiss Cheese to Explain Human Error, Dies at 86|last = Rosenwald|first = Michael S.|date = 13 March 2025|accessdate = 13 March 2025|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|url-access = limited}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sumwait |first=Robert L. |author-link=Robert L. Sumwalt (U.S. government official) |date=1 May 2018 |title=The Age of Reason |url=https://safetycompass.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/the-age-of-reason/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218122017/https://safetycompass.wordpress.com/2018/05/01/the-age-of-reason/ |archive-date=18 December 2020 |access-date=21 February 2024 |website=[[NTSB]] Safety Compass}}</ref> His father was killed during [[The Blitz]], and his mother died several years later, leaving him to be raised by his maternal grandfather, Thomas Reason, whose surname he adopted.<ref name = Rosenwald/> He was educated at the University of Manchester and the [[University of Leicester]].<ref name = Rosenwald/>
==Career== Reason wrote books on [[human error]],<ref name=":1" /> including [[absent-mindedness]], [[Human factors in aviation safety|aviation human factors]], [[Maintenance|maintenance errors]], and [[risk management]] for organizational accidents.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Reason |first=James T. |title=Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-84014-105-4 |edition= |location=Farnham, England}}</ref> In 2003, he was awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Science|DSc]] by the [[University of Aberdeen]]. He was a Fellow of the [[British Academy]], the [[British Psychological Society]], the [[Royal Aeronautical Society]], and the [[Royal College of General Practitioners]]. 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."<ref name=GBR>{{London Gazette |issue=56797 |date=31 December 2002 |pages=8 |supp=y}}</ref> In 2011, he was elected an honorary Safety and Reliability Society fellow.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Reason |first=James |title=A Life in Error: From Little Slips to Big Disasters |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |year=2013 |isbn=9781472418432 |location=Farnham, England and Burlington, Vt.}}</ref>
[[File:Swiss cheese model of accident causation with additional labels.png|thumb|Swiss cheese model of accident causation with example barrier layers]] Among his many contributions is the introduction of the [[Swiss cheese model]], 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 to the ultimate, unwanted consequences, such as harm to people, assets, the environment, etc.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Reason |first=James |title=Human Error |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-521-30669-0 |location=Cambridge, England |language=en}}</ref> Reason also described the first fully developed theory of a [[just culture]] in his 1997 book, ''Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents.''<ref name=":2" />
==Personal life and death== In 1964, Reason married educational psychologist Rea Jaari, daughter of [[Ruben Jaari]]. The couple had two children.<ref name = Rosenwald/> He died from pneumonia at a [[Slough]] hospital, on 4 February 2025, at the age of 86.<ref name = Rosenwald/><ref>{{Cite news |date=10 February 2025 |title=The Absent-minded Professor Who Made a Safer World |url=https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/02/the-absent-minded-professor-who-made-a-safer-world/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210120958/https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2025/02/the-absent-minded-professor-who-made-a-safer-world/ |archive-date=10 February 2025 |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=Flight Safety Australia}}</ref>
== Bibliography ==
=== Books ===
* ''Human Error,'' Cambridge University Press. 1990. {{ISBN|978-0-521-31419-0}} * ''Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents,'' Ashgate,1997. {{ISBN|978-1-84014-105-4}} * ''Managing Maintenance Error: A Practical Guide'', CRC Press. 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-1591-0}} * ''The Human Contribution,'' Routledge''.'' 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-7402-3}} * ''A Life in Error,'' Routledge. 2013. {{ISBN|978-1-4724-1841-8}} * ''Beyond Aviation Human Factors'', Routledge. 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-84014-948-7}} * ''Organizational Accidents Revisited,'' CRC Press''.'' 2016. {{ISBN|978-1-4724-4768-5}}
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Reason, James}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:2025 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century British psychologists]] [[Category:21st-century British psychologists]] [[Category:Academics of the University of Manchester]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester]] [[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England]] [[Category:Fellows of the British Academy]] [[Category:Fellows of the British Psychological Society]] [[Category:Fellows of the Royal Aeronautical Society]] [[Category:People from Watford]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Leicester]]