Mr. Trevor Kletz is, without a doubt, my favorite author. In 2001 he published his book on Human Factors in process safety – “An engineer’s view of human error” (Third edition). It is a MUST-READ for those who practice process safety, significantly if you facilitate process hazard(s) analysis (PHA), including the Human Factors analysis. His book is quite telling, as evidenced by the title of Chapter 1 – Accept men as we find them. On the book’s cover, Mr. Kletz states the theme: Try to change situations, not people. Part 2 of the book is titled Accidents caused by simple slip, which is a play on Dr. James Reason’s Human Failure Model of Errors, Mistakes, and Violations.
| If all accidents are due to human errors, how does this book differ from any other book on accidents? It describes accidents which at first sight seem to be due wholly or mainly to human error, which at one time would have been followed by exhortations to take more care or follow the rules, and emphasizes what can be done by changing designs or methods of working. The latter phrase includes training, instructions, audits, and enforcement as well as the way at ask is performed. |
Here is the full table of contents: