... which are often inherited from latent errors, although the consequences here are usually seen on site and are more immediately apparent. Latent errors are the more serious category for complex automated systems as they may not be apparent at the initial onset of system implementation and can lie dormant until triggered by an active error (giving rise to the 'pathogen metaphor'). As Reason observes, these errors "constitute the primary residual risk to complex, highly-defended technological systems." Errors may also be exacerbated by the increasing opacity of automated systems, and this theme is central to the issue of automated systems breakdown. As automated systems become more complex, the human operators become increasingly distanced from the actual processes and lose their 'hands-on' knowledge of the system. Such distancing and complexity of function can lead to 'mode errors' - the human operators perform the appropriate action for one mode when they are in fact ...

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