Automation risks and unintended consequences

In Part 2 of our episode on Charles Perrow’s book Normal Accidents, we carry the framework forward into the 21st century to consider newer technological systems (especially in information technology) and the Y2K problem that was looming when the updated edition of the book was published in 1999. Is there any hope for mitigating the potential for new forms of high-risk accidents, or are we just stuck with having to deal with the occasional mass disaster?