Human Error Assessment And Reduction Technique Research Articles

Evaluation of Human Error Probability of Disc Brake Unit Assembly and Wheel Set Maintenance of Railway Bogie

The railway sector is key to the continuous expansion of industrialized nations, but the sector's working conditions and human performance requirements are qualitatively different from other industries. Human error in railway maintenance is a subject which warrants serious attention so as to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage. This paper investigates the probability of human error during the maintenance process of disc brake assembly unit and wheel set of railway bogie under various error producing conditions in railway maintenance workshop in Luleå, Sweden. The objective is to evaluate human error probability so as to take measures to reduce the likelihood of errors occurring within a system and, thus, to improve the overall levels of safety. For this paper, a case study that explores the causes of maintenance error during disassembly, inspection, maintenance, assembly and installation was derived from brain storming sessions among subject matter experts (SMEs), i.e technicians, supervisors and academic experts. In our case study, the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) was implemented to evaluate the probability of human error occurring throughout the completion of maintenance task. HEART is based upon the principle that every time a task is performed on the maintenance of a disc brake assembly unit and wheel set, there is a likelihood of failure and the probability of this is affected by one or more error producing condition, for instance, shortage of time, over-riding information, inexperience etc. This paper presents the need for interventions in the human factor elements of maintenance tasks performed on railway bogie. A number of factors directly or indirectly result in a decline in human performance, leading to errors in maintenance tasks. The probability of a technician committing an error during maintenance of the disc brake assembly unit and wheel set is found to be 0.20 and 0.039 respectively. It has been observed that error producing conditions such as time pressure, ability to detect and perceive problems, the existence of over-riding information, the need to make absolute decisions, and a mismatch between the operator and the designer's model are major contributors to human error.

Human Error Reduction for Cost Efficiency Improvement in the Butchery Area of a Chicken Processing Company

It is in the nature of a human to make mistakes. However, it does not necessarily follow for it not to be reduced or eliminated in a system. A company may experience significant monetary losses due to human error due variability of products being produced. This study aims to reduce, if not eliminate, the probability of occurrence of human error in a chicken processing company. Also, the study used a descriptive research design which applied a two-step methodology – the general to specific approach. For the general approach, human reliability assessment tool: Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) was utilized in identifying the area or process in the business where the probability of human error occurrence is highest. Afterwards, the specific approach was done targeting the area with highest error probability occurrence. The study used survey questionnaires and random sampling techniques for this phase. As a result, the area with the highest error probability of occurrence is the butchery or the chopping area. Equipped with the findings from the study, several recommendations have been proposed addressing the concerns regarding human error reduction.

Effects of cold environments on human reliability assessment in offshore oil and gas facilities.

This paper proposes a new methodology that focuses on the effects of cold and harsh environments on the reliability of human performance. As maritime operations move into Arctic and Antarctic environments, decision makers must be able to recognize how cold weather affects human performance and subsequently adjusts management and operational tools and strategies. In the present work, a revised version of the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) methodology has been developed to assess the effects of cold on the likelihood of human error in offshore oil and gas facilities. This methodology has been applied to post-maintenance tasks of offshore oil and gas facility pumps to investigate how management, operational, and equipment issues must be considered in risk analysis and prediction of human error in cold environments. This paper provides a proof of concept indicating that the risk associated with operations in cold environments is greater than the risk associated with the same operations performed in temperate climates. It also develops guidelines regarding how this risk can be assessed. The results illustrate that in post-maintenance procedures of a pump, the risk value related to the effect of cold and harsh environments on operator cognitive performance is twice as high as the risk value when performed in normal conditions. The present work demonstrates significant differences between human error probabilities (HEPs) and associated risks in normal conditions as opposed to cold and harsh environments. This study also highlights that the cognitive performance of the human operator is the most important factor affected by the cold and harsh conditions. The methodology developed in this paper can be used for reevaluating the HEPs for particular scenarios that occur in harsh environments since these HEPs may not be comparable to similar scenarios in normal conditions.

An empirical study on the basic human error probabilities for NPP advanced main control room operation using soft control

By adopting new human–system interfaces that are based on computer-based technologies, the operation environment of main control rooms (MCRs) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has changed. The MCRs that include these digital and computer technologies, such as large display panels, computerized procedures, soft controls, and so on, are called Advanced MCRs. Among the many features in Advanced MCRs, soft controls are an important feature because the operation action in NPP Advanced MCRs is performed by soft control. Using soft controls such as mouse control, touch screens, and so on, operators can select a specific screen, then choose the controller, and finally manipulate the devices.However, because of the different interfaces between soft control and hardwired conventional type control, different basic human error probabilities (BHEPs) should be considered in the Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) for advanced MCRs. Although there are many HRA methods to assess human reliabilities, such as Technique for Human Error Rate Prediction (THERP), Accident Sequence Evaluation Program (ASEP), Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART), Human Event Repository and Analysis (HERA), Nuclear Computerized Library for Assessing Reactor Reliability (NUCLARR), Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM), and so on, these methods have been applied to conventional MCRs, and they do not consider the new features of advance MCRs such as soft controls. As a result, there is an insufficient database for assessing human reliabilities in advanced MCRs.In this paper, BHEPs in a soft control operation environment are investigated empirically for BHEPs to apply advanced MCRs. A soft control operation environment is constructed by using a compact nuclear simulator (CNS), which is a mockup for advanced MCRs. Before the experiments, all tasks that should be performed by subjects are analyzed using one of the task analysis methods, Systematic Human Error Reduction and Prediction Approach (SHERPA). Human errors are then checked to analyze BHEPs, human error mode, and the cause of human error when using soft control.

Determination of human error probabilities in maintenance procedures of a pump

The “human factor” constitutes an important role in the prediction of safe operation of a facility. Hence, information about human capacities and behaviours should be applied methodically to increase the safety of a systematic process. This paper provides an analysis of human factors in pre- and post-maintenance operations. For possible failure scenarios, this paper considers the procedures for removing process equipment from service (pre-maintenance) and returning the component to service (post-maintenance). In this study, a pump is used as the test example. For each scenario, the human error probability (HEP) is calculated for each activity, using the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) which is commonly implemented technique in industry, can also be applied in the analyses of safety cases. HEART is a reliable technique for comparing HEP and its approach is based on the degree of error recovery. Consequences are also assessed for each activity in this methodology. The final value of risk for each activity is assigned by combining error likelihood and related consequences. When the calculated risk is beyond acceptable levels, risk management strategies are provided to increase the safety of the maintenance procedures. The most probable human errors for a considered case study are related to the activities of “draining lines” and “open valves”. These two activities have high HEPs, which are 9.57E−01 and 9.62E−01, respectively.

Analysis of operator human errors in hydrogen refuelling stations: Comparison between human rate assessment techniques

The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier for road transport appears to be an optimal solution for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Nevertheless, the development of this technology depends on the growth and diffusion of production, storage and refuelling infrastructures together with accurate risk analyses to appropriately design the safety and management systems used in these plants. Moreover, to improve safety standards, it is also important to focus attention on the estimation of hazards related to human factors, as this is one of the major causes leading to accidental events, especially in complex industrial technology. The paper reports a case study relevant to operator errors that occur during maintenance procedures on safety venting devices in refuelling station hydrogen storage systems performed using first- and second-generation Human Rate Assessment (HRA) techniques. HEART (Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique) methodology, a first-generation HRA method, which was modified on the basis of the fuzzy set concept, was employed to evaluate the probability of erroneous actions. The obtained results have been compared with results obtained using CREAM (second-generation) methodology. The critical analyses of the obtained results have also allowed to provide procedural recommendations and suggestions regarding safety equipment and procedures which can be adopted to reduce the risk of accidents.

Human reliability assessment of a critical nursing task in a radiotherapy treatment process

Radiotherapy treatment, like many other fields of medicine, has changed significantly in the last decade with the introduction of more advanced technology and automation. This change has often resulted in aspects of the system which cannot be automated due to technological feasibility and local implementation constraints. This has resulted in a requirement for significant human interaction. This combination of human operations and automation has introduced new error pathways. Traditionally, recommendations to improve the safety of such systems are typically made after the analysis of an adverse event or a significant series of incidents. In contrast, adopting a proactive approach to safety would enable prior identification of potential errors and the specification of appropriate defences against them, thus avoiding costs associated with adverse outcomes. In this paper, a modified version of the proactive Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) method Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) was used to analyse a critical nursing task within a modern radiotherapy system. The modified technique used a participative team approach to complete the assessment in contrast to the normal approach, which uses a single expert assessor. The HEART technique quantifies the likelihood of unreliability of a task and ranks the conditions which most affect the successful completion of that task. HEART has been proposed as a potentially useful HRA tool for applications in healthcare, but such applications have not previously been formally documented. As a result of the modified HEART analysis reported in this paper, remedial measures were identified which were both cost effective and easy to implement.

Inclusion of human errors assessment in failure frequency analysis—A case study for the transportation of ammonia by rail in Malaysia

AbstractRisk is defined as the probability of a specific adverse event occurring within a specific period, while Quantitative risk assessment (QRA) is the development of a quantitative estimate of risk based on engineering evaluation and mathematical techniques by combining estimate of incident consequences and frequencies. In view of the increase in the use of railways as the mode of transportation for hazardous materials throughout the world, the associated risk analysis should be taken into concern. In this study, the failure frequency of the transportation of ammonia from the Petronas fertilizers Kedah (PFK) plant in Gurun (Northern part of Peninsular Malaysia), to the Chemical Company Malaysia (CCM) fertilizer's facilities in Port Klang (South‐western part of Peninsular Malaysia) was evaluated by incorporating the human error assessment. The study highlighted the importance of human error contributions in the failure frequency analysis and its impact on the selected failure scenarios. Besides, it also shows that the application of the human error assessment and reduction technique (HEART), which is a useful human reliability analysis tool, should be used in parallel with the fuzzy arithmetic approach to reduce the uncertainties involved in the estimation of human error probabilities, and hence, to reduce the likelihood of incorrect risks estimates being assessed. The results suggested that the commonly applied approach in quantitative risk assessments, which only consider equipment failures in the failure frequency estimations, are clearly an underestimate of the potential causes of failures leading to hazardous material releases, and hence, the calculated risks based do not reflect the actual risks. © 2008 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog, 2009

The Use of Heart to Assess the Risk of Remote Control Locomotive Operations: A Tale of Two Cities

In an effort to reduce operating costs and increase safety and efficiency, U.S. Class I freight railroads have begun to use remotely controlled locomotives in and around railroad switching yards. To better understand the safety implications of implementing this technology, a human reliability assessment was conducted to compare remotely controlled locomotive operations with conventional (engineer onboard) yard switching operations. This paper discusses application of the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) with 2 yard switching employee subject matter experts. Each was asked to assess 11 conventional scenarios and 11 nearly-identical remote control scenarios. Human error probabilities were calculated for each scenario. The HEART assessment revealed no overall difference in human error probabilities between the 2 methods of operation. Additional analyses suggest significant variability between the two assessors. This paper explores differences in how assessors used HEART, including differences in selection of generic task types and error-producing conditions.

Nuclear action reliability assessment (NARA): a data-based HRA tool

In the UK, as elsewhere, probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs) are carried out to assure the safety of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Since human error and recovery are key attributes of a risk assessment approach, Human Reliability Assessment (HRA) approaches are used to account for the human contribution (positive as well as negative) to risk. In the UK, for the past decade, the principal tool used to quantify the reliabilities of human interactions has been the Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) [1,2].

Congrés de la radiological society of North America 2001: A digital imaging departement odyssey

Continuous monitoring and maintenance of assets is important for safe and reliable marine and offshore operations. On-board maintenance activities carried out by seafarers/operators are often prone to error, leading to an accident. Marine environmental and operational conditions significantly affect human performance and influence seafarers/operators to make un-intentional errors. International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidance recommends implementing Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) for assessing the effect of human error probability considering quantitative risk analysis of shipping and offshore operations. The conventional HEART is not specifically developed to apply to marine and offshore operations and therefore it is necessary to develop an operational specific methodology capturing unique features of marine environment and operations. In this study, by revising and modifying the HEART to assess and quantify the potential human errors in different marine environmental and operational conditions, a new methodology is developed. As a part of the developed methodology, the Error Producing Condition (EPC) and Error Influencing Factor (EIF) tables are refined and developed to reflect the particular conditions of marine environments for Human Error Probability (HEP) estimation. The EIF tables for both engine and deck departments are developed separately considering the answers to a questionnaire survey among experienced seafarers from around the world. As the case studies the developed methodology is applied to the maintenance procedures of a marine engine exhaust turbocharger and also a condensate pump on an offshore oil and gas facilities. Application of the developed methodology confirms that extreme weather, extreme workplace temperature, high ship motion, high level of noise and vibration, and work overload and stress increase the likelihood of human error as well as potential accidents. It is intended that application of this developed methodology in human factor risk assessment will assist in improving the safety and reliability of the current maintenance practices in marine and offshore operations.