Jean-Christophe Le Coze is research director at INERIS (National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks) and responsible for the EPSYCOR axis (Evaluation and management of complex systems at risk). He holds a doctorate in Science and Engineering of Risk Activities from Ecole des Mines de Paris.

His expertise and research focus on the high reliability and safe performance of organizations and in particular risky organizations (chemicals, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, nuclear, aviation, rail). He is interested in the renewal of these topics in a context of profound changes in contemporary societies (digitalization, cybersecurity, outsourcing, telework, global warming, globalization).

In addition to his work in managing expertise and research programs, his expertise is rooted in ethnography and action-research, using the human and social sciences in an interdisciplinary approach (engineering sciences, ergonomics, sociology). He has carried out more than 15 case studies, in research or consultancy, totaling more than 800 interviews with a variety of categories of actors (from operators to directors, including engineers and authorities of control) and several months of fieldwork observations in various safety-critical contexts such as the chemical industry, pyrotechnics, pharmacy, nuclear waste storage, metallurgy, or nuclear industry.

These empirical studies address various issues met by companies and control authorities such as human error, safety culture, management of change, human and organizational factors, socio-technical assessment or global risks. They are the subject of many scientific publications, books’ chapters and books. He is the author or co-author of several  books published in English and French. Last books published in English include:

- Post Normal Accident. Revisiting Perrow’s classic (2020)

- Safety Science Research. Evolution, Challenges and New Directions (2019).

Recent articles include:

- The ‘new view’of human error: origins, ambiguities, success and critiques (2022)

- Safety as a network, digital and global reality (2022)

Both articles are published in Safety Science, of which he is one of the Associate Editors.

Jean-Christophe Le Coze is member of two Think Tanks: the strategic analyzes of the Foncsi and NeTWork. He teaches safety in engineering and sociology universities (Mines de Paris, University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines).

Read a summary of one of his articles: