Access, methods and knowledge when exploring high-hazard systems lessons from the past for the future

This chapter deals with the conditions under which high-hazard organisations have been studied in the past and how they can be studied nowadays. Looking back at some of the most iconic studies of the field, it aims at reflecting on the progress already achieved. In doing so, it also seeks to map out the remaining gaps for both increasing and securing our knowledge of high-hazard systems and organisations. The chapter first describes briefly the origins of field methodologies and how they gained their lettres de noblesse. In a second section, the study of high-hazard organisations is put in perspective, bridging between past and current practices. It also presents why field methodologies seem to be especially well suited to the study of “normal operations.” Finally, it alerts the reader to some of the difficulties that researchers will likely encounter. Dealing with powerful (or less so) gatekeepers, guarding reluctant organisations, can require elaborate new models of access for social scientists. A complex portfolio of interventions might represent an interesting strategy, providing the objective of remaining a dutifully observer is kept at heart. Building international consortiums able to match the global nature of most high-profile organisations might also prove useful. They could provide the necessary empirical base to substantiate already existing powerful concepts across sectors, cultures, countries and continent