APPLYING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT HUMAN ERROR: FROM THEORY INTO PRACTICE

Abstract

Human error is often said to be at the heart of the majority of incidents and the developing discipline of human factors a way of understanding how these errors occur. There is little debate about this. But do we practise what we preach and are we reaping the benefits of applying the insights? Anecdotal evidence suggests not. Human error is too often interpreted as people being reckless, careless or just ignorant in discharging their duties. This so-called careless worker approach was the unstated assumption behind early moves to improve health and safety. It could be argued in the petroleum industry that we have adopted a more sophisticated approach, emphasising the importance of the engineering integrity of process systems and the role of formal management systems. However, there remains a need to better integrate what we know about human and organisational error. Reason’s (1997) organisational accident model has had a profound effect on how accidents are viewed and how we can learn from them. The clarity with which the model is presented does not, however, necessarily translate directly into ease of application. The model is a description of accident causation, but does not provide a method for making assessments about organisational resilience in its own right. As such, individuals wanting to use the model need to be well trained if benefits are to be realised. This paper describes a practical and applied approach to human error training based on principles of adult learning that is designed to tap into trainees’ existing knowledge and experiences.