What is a High Reliability Organizations (HRO)? The work is highly technical and complex, operators require a high level of technical training and certification (and often regular checking, retraining/ requalification), and the consequences of error can be catastrophic. Hence, “it has to be done right every time.”
My earliest exposure to a true HRO was with nuclear control room operators. Work in the nuclear industry led to similar research and consulting opportunities with commercial aviation. At around the same time I was doing this foundational work with nuclear operations, U.S. airlines were supplementing their “stick and rudder” technical training with crew- coordination training.