Human Factors Engineering

The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized on March 6, 1987, killing ~200 people. It sank because its inner and outer bow doors had been left open on sailing due to a combination of factors and decisions. The subsequent investigation found that all of these could have been avoided or ameliorated. Management failures set up a…...

Several years ago the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) enacted the following regulations in response to some large scale pipeline incidents: § 192.631 Control room management PHMSA published the Control Room Management/Human Factors final rule in the Federal Register on December 3, 2009, which became effective on February 1, 2010.  The agency actually…...

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This is one of those MUST READ studies for all safety professionals who deal with machine gaurding and interlocks, and/or have a behavior based safety process!  Although the study was done on Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines in the UK, we can certainly see how the results can be expected on ANY machinery and by ANY…...

Identifying human error is a starting point, not a conclusion. If we aim to learn from the error and to lessen the chances of it happening again, we need to consider the organizational context that surrounds the person’s action, including equipment, procedures, people, the environment, and management. There are two aspects to managing error:… Membership...

We have all heard the term before, but what exactly did OSHA and EPA really mean when they stated that “human factors” must be part of a Process Hazards Analysis (PHA)? In the USA, we can look to OSHA’s PSM Compliance Directive, CPL 02-045, to get an idea of what we should consider “human factors”…...

Another major incident investigation finds serious cultural failures, poor training for operators and emergency responders, poor emergency planning, and technical failures in the Mechanical Integrity program. The crude oil pipeline company’s pervasive organizational failures caused a massive 2010 spill in Michigan, a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) preliminary investigation has found. The investigation found that…...

People do not err intentionally. Error is a human action that unintentionally departs from expected behavior. Error is behavior without malice or forethought; it is not a result. Human error is provoked by a mismatch between human limitations and environmental conditions at the job site, including inappropriate management and leadership practices and organizational weaknesses that…...