Videos - Learning from Accidents
A collection of videos that document and share some of the highlights of our own learning journey with others.
The sole aim of this investigation is not to blame but to learn. Sounds familiar? And yet, every investigation follows the same trajectory. In this talk, delivered at the European Union Rail Safety Day Conference in October 2025, I make an appeal for humanistic ethics in investigations. Not what, why or how thing went wrong but the who. Unless we understand the person involved in the accident, nothing will change. In this podcast, I take the example of the captain of Costa Concordia who was imprisoned for the capsizing of the ship. There is no learning without declaring our ethics and methodology.
After an accident, we create a narrative to give meaning to misfortune. these narratives are packed in the discourse of science and they claim to prevent future recurrences (formal investigation reports) and learn from accidents? But to what extent are these narratives true? can they really prevent anything? do they help us to learn from accidents? here’s my talk at the Library of Accidents in Edinburgh drawing upon examples from the Costa Concordia and the US Airways 1549. both the narratives are underpinned in myth although they are presented as ‘scientific and objective’ truths.
This podcast is a humble attempt to summarise years of experience and research into enclosed space risks and accidents. I hope this will inspire you to think, reflect and ask questions that would challenge our assumptions about enclosed spaces. If you need more guidance or support please get in touch.
Less than a month ago, the long-awaited 𝗪𝗮𝗸𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 was released by the Court of Investigation, Mauritius.
In this article, I present an alternative view of the accident. Instead of a simplified narrative that is directed at blaming the crew members, I have made an attempt to question the methodology (and the language) used in the accident report and illustrated the biases and assumptions of the investigation team in analysing the accident and compiling the report.
When things go wrong, what questions do we ask? How do we frame our questions? And why in the way we ask questions determines the quality of learning and change? In this session, you will learn how to ask questions that will set us on a path towards discovery, learning and change.
In this session, I will illustrate how to map an accident investigation on a whiteboard and illustrate step by step: 1. how to learn from events 2. how to recognise our biases 3. how to improve our decisions And as always, we will end with a good conversation.
In this podcast, I share some thoughts about the limitations of root cause analysis as a method (or a tool) for investigations and audits based on a social experiment. Linear, deductive reasoning has many limitations because it seeks simplistic answers to ethical and political problems that are inherently messy, non-linear and largely operate in the unconscious space. You can read my blogs and books if you wish to go deeper into this topic.
Often people involved in accidents will tell us that the process of accident investigation was far more stressful and even traumatic than the experience of the accident. Our models and methods of investigation end up causing more harm than good to people. In this video, we will learn how to reconcile trauma, healing and learning in an accident investigation not only from the point of view of those involved but also for those responsible for investigating the accidents. How do we reconcile learning and healing? Give this podcast a listen.
This is a pre-recorded session where we discussed how to learn from accidents using practical frameworks based on Social Psychology of Risk. Questions we considered: 1. Why learning should be our prime focus in investigation 2. How to listen to the cues of risk in an accident investigation (and events) 3. How listening can help us to improve decision making and proactively manage the risks The session is interactive and grounded in practical application but at the same time founded in a sound transdisciplinary body of knowledge referred to as the Social Psychology of Risk.
Do you have a strategy for learning? In this video we will find out how to create an investigation strategy that aligns with the investigation process in order to foster a culture of learning.
In less than 12 hours, President Trump blamed that DEI was behind the Washington mid-air collision. How did Trump connect so many dots at the speed of light and establish what went wrong with such conviction? And why do so many buy into this DEI ideology as the cause of the accident? In this podcast, I suggest that the president is using fear of death to heighten public anxiety, create a divide and spread hatred in the society.
We will discuss: Why do humans fear death? How do we react and how do we relate with others when we are confronted with death? How does this explain President Trump’s reaction to Washington midair collision?
What happens when someone by-passes an alarm, turns the wrong valve on the manifold, ignores a barrier, or leaves a winch lever unattended. Where does your imagination take you? What questions come to your mind? Whatever model you follow, whatever methods you use, everything begins with our assumptions about how the human mind and what does it even mean to be a human being? Much of risk and safety – new or old, traditional or contemporary, 1 or 2 – implicitly assumes that the mind is encased in the brain and we are caught between the left brain / right brain metaphor. Would you like to understand the science behind decision making? Would you like to find out what leading thinkers and cutting-edge research has to say about the human mind? In this visual story, we will discuss why thinking about the mind as the brain is not only misleading but also unethical at many levels. This brain-centred approach to investigating accidents, and more generally, risk, safety and learning turns human beings into objects for measurement and hazards that need to be controlled. We will discuss how to approach accident investigations, how to engage with people and how to ethically, sensibly and practically learn from accidents. This story is full of practical examples and it is based on my recent book, Are We Learning from Accidents? You can read my book here: https://nippinanand.com/
This episode on the Practice of Framing is a follow on from my previous episode – the Power of Framing 
• Why don’t people speak up? The Power … where I discussed the problem of ‘speak up’ using the Costa Concordia story. In this episode we will discuss how to put framing in practice and why reframing is so critical for unlearning and learning. A brief outline of this discussion. 1. We will begin with a little experiment on framing 2. We will then discuss what framing really means. 3. How our current framing of risk and safety discourse (language) impedes learning. 4. Why reframing holds the key for unlearning and learning 5. And finally I will suggest some readings and courses for those who wish to learn. Many of us think of framing as a technique or a method. Reframing is not a technique. It’s how we relate with the world. How we see another person. Do we see them as objects to be measured? Do we see them as hazards to be controlled? Or do we really see them as people. whole person with whom we should meet and have a conversation.
In 2012 the passenger ship Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Italy, resulting in the death of 32 people. The captain was criticised for his casual attitude towards formulating the ship’s voyage plan, sailing 0.5 miles too close to the coast, and ‘disregarding to properly consider the distance from the coast’. The captain was sentenced to 16 years in the prison. While the rest of the world (including leading experts in the industry) criticised the captain for navigating the safe too close to the islands. even five years after the accident when I met the captain in his hometown he maintained that this was a normal practice in the cruise industry. It was a powerful insight into the culture of the cruise industry. In this episode, we will discuss why culture is so often misunderstood within the risk and safety industry using this story.
In this episode, I will present the power of framing using the story of the Costa Concordia accident. How we frame our questions and statements determines what we really learn from accidents. Framing is more than just a technique; it’s how we see the world and what we believe is morally right or wrong. Framing and reframing is where learning begins.
The next episode in the series will focus on normalisation of risk and safety culture.