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Determination of human error patterns: The use of published results of official enquiries into system failures
Author(s) -
Bradley Edgar A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
quality and reliability engineering international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.913
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1099-1638
pISSN - 0748-8017
DOI - 10.1002/qre.4680110605
Subject(s) - human error , operator (biology) , scale (ratio) , computer science , reliability engineering , risk analysis (engineering) , operations research , engineering , business , geography , cartography , biology , biochemistry , repressor , transcription factor , gene
Official enquiries into large scale system failures may be used to interpret events according to the various types of human error which were committed. For example there are errors in operation of the system, in maintenance practices etc. Twelve well documented disasters are analysed and the conclusion emerges that operator error predominates. This fact is not suprising, reflecting as it does the short time span in which operators have to make decisions, compared to the other players such as designers, maintenance men etc. This conclusion has implications for the other human disciplines involved. For example designers should conceive systems which will be less prone to operator error, while management should support operators in whatever way possible to increase their effectiveness.