Hi Burr,
very much agree with the sentiment of your post. Have never been entirely convinced by the Reason Model. Eurocontrol publish a paper at Bretigny named "Revisiting the Swiss Cheese Model", for a further discussion on this.
Erik Hollnagel I first came across at a NATO Advanced Science Institute in 1992 - and Jim Reason was there as well (played goal full back to Erik's goalkeeper). Erik has been writing for many years, and Sidney was with him at a university in Sweden (not Lund). Erik's work is particularly good.
His new book builds a lot on his previous work. If you haven't read it, I commend "Barriers and Accident Prevention" (Ashgate 2004).
Not sure Erik is the new kid on the block
Jim Reason's latest book, particularly the last two chapters is very Dekker/Hollnagelian!
MB