On the Impact of Human and Organizational Archetypes on Human Failure Probabilities Used in Risk Analyses

Abstract

In a previous paper a radar diagram showing the influence of a set of ten features has been presented, discussed and their influence on human failure probabilities has been assessed. Among these, the most important features were management of change, control center design, and training. In this paper, we discuss the use of organizational archetypes in process plants in order to estimate human failure probabilities more realistically by bringing safety culture into stage. The analysis of archetypes is justified not only for the Tokaimura plant, as discussed in this paper, but also for most organizations, where safety efforts are credited to design, and safety restrictions accomplishment during operation is not trivial, even for those organizations with good safety standards. Generally, inadequate cost, schedule, and performance considerations lead to consequences with greater impact on deviations and incidents. The archetype analysis presented considers nonlinear interactions of factors that influence the maintenance of safety level. It produces good indicators of safety management plan improving during operation. This analysis becomes a relevant tool for facilities where safety culture is not strong.