Human Factors

Indicators of Human Factors

Problems
Accidents where human error is a cause
Occupational health reports of mental or physical
ill-health
High absenteeism or sickness rates
High staff turnover levels
Low level of compliance with h&s rules
Behaviour issues identified in risk assessments
Complaints from staff about working conditions
or job-design
Common Human Failures in
Accidents
Job Factors:
Illogical design of equipment & instruments
Constant disturbances or interruptions
Missing or unclear instructions
Poorly maintained equipment
High workload
Noisy & unpleasant working conditions
Common Human Failures in
Accidents
Individual Factors:
Low skill & competence levels
Tired staff
Bored or disheartened staff
Individual medical problems
Common Human Failures in
Accidents
Organisation & Management Factors:
Poor work planning, leading to high work pressure
Lack of safety systems and barriers
Inadequate responses to previous incidents
Management based on one-way communication
Deficient co-ordination and responsibilities
Poor management of health & safety
Poor health & safety culture
Human Failures
Errors (not intended)
Slips
Lapses
Mistakes
Violations (deliberate)
Routine
Situational
Exceptional
Human
Failures
Slips
Actions-not-as-planned
Examples:
Performing an action too soon in a procedure
Carrying out an action with too much or too
little strength (e.g. over-torquing a bolt)
Switching the wrong switch
Moving switch up rather than down
Carrying out the wrong check on the right item
Lapses
Forgetting to carry out an action
Lose our place in a task
Can be due to interruptions or distractions
Example:
Forgetting to fill switchgear with oil?
Mistakes
Doing the wrong thing, believing it to be
right
Consist of:
Rule-based
Knowledge-based
Routine Violations
Breaking the rule has become a normal way
of working within the work group. This can be
due to:
Desire to cut corners to save time & energy
Perception that rules are too restrictive
Belief that rules no longer apply
Lack of enforcement of the rule
New workers starting a job where routine
violations are the norm and not realising that
this is not the correct way of working

Situational Violations
Breaking rule is due to pressures from the
job such as:
being under time pressure
insufficient staff for the workload
right equipment not being available
extreme weather conditions

Exceptional Violations
Rarely happen and only then when
something has gone wrong
To solve a new problem you feel you need
to break a rule even though you are aware
that you will be taking a risk
Influences on behaviour at Work
Personality
Attitude
Motivation
Experience
Aptitude
Intelligence
Perception
Personality
The study of what makes each of us a
distinct person
Some characteristics are shared by all
human beings
Each person is different in some respects
Attitude
A persons point of view, or their way of
looking at something
Influences the way a person reacts in a
certain situation
Both good and bad attitudes are
contagious
Attitude Formation
Attitudes are primarily dependant on:
Early childhood
Schooling
Intelligence
Experiences
Progress (or the reverse)
Economics
Aptitude
A persons talent for doing something
Education should give knowledge and help
to form correct attitudes, while training and
practice are necessary for aptitude
Motivation
That which makes an individual act as they
do - their reason for doing something
A drive can be either:
Appetitive - towards something we want
Aversive - avoiding something unpleasant
An event that is followed with reward is
likely to recur (positive reinforcement)
An event that is followed with punishment
is likely to desist (negative reinforcement)
Experience
With increasing experience we expect more
competence and an increase in ability to
cope with situations
However, there is a tendency to cut corners,
as shown in the graph:

Accident
Frequency
Time
Age
Experience
Intelligence
There needs to be enough mental
stimulation, but not too much
A person with low intelligence may find
even a routine, mundane job very taxing
If a person of high intelligence is set a
mundane task, he will probably employ
himself in finding new and less arduous,
but not necessarily safer, ways of
completing a task
Sensory Defects & Screening
Sensory defects increase with age and
failing health
We screen out things we are not interested
in or consider not worth listening to
We can go into auto-pilot mode, which
saves effort and allows us to concentrate
on other things, or think ahead. This is
useful, but causes many accidents
Perception of Danger
Factors involved in perception:
Signals from sensory receptors
Expected information from memory
Signals from sensory receptors and
memory can be misleading, particularly if
we are affected by stress, alcohol, drugs,
fatigue or just familiarity
Perceptual Set
Also called a mind set
When we have a problem, immediately we
perceive not only the problem, but the
answer
Further evidence may become available
which sows our original perception to be
faulty, but we are so busy congratulating
ourselves on our intelligent solution that
we fail to see alternative causes &
solutions

Perceptual Distortion
Perceptions get distorted
Things which are to our advantage always
tend to be more right than those which are
to our disadvantage
Errors in Perception Caused by
Physical Stressors
Consider effects of:
fatigue
overwork
overtime
stress from work and home
Shift work is a major factor
Our bodies operate best when we have a
regular routine
Perception and the Assessment
of Risk
In assessing a risk, there is safety in
numbers
One persons faulty perception of a risk
could be corrected by another persons
clearer perception
Perception also depends upon knowledge
& experience - a group will have more to
contribute