Human Factors
Importance of Human Factors The greatest impact in aircraft
safety in the future will not come from improving the technology. Rather it
will be from educating the employee to recognize and prevent human error
. A review of accident related data indicates that
approximately 75–80 percent of all aviation accidents are the result of human
error. Of those accidents, about 12 percent are maintenance related. Although
pilot/co-pilot errors tend to have immediate and highly visible effects,
maintenance errors tend to be more latent and less obvious. However, they can be
just as lethal.
Definitions of Human
Factors Human factors are concerned with optimizing performance … including
reducing errors so that the highest level of safety is achieved and maintained.
—Ron LoFaro, PhD FAA
Human factors is the study of how people interact with their
environments. —FAA-H-8083-25,
Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, dated 2003 Human
factors are those elements that affect our behavior and performance, especially
those that may cause us to make errors.
—Canadian Department
of Defense (video) Our focus is on human factors as it relates to improper
actions. Note, however, that human factors exist in both proper and improper
actions.
Since improper actions usually result in human error, we
should also define that term. Human error is the unintentional act of
performing a task incorrectly that can potentially degrade the system. There
are three types of human error:
1. Omission: not performing an act or task.
2. Commission: accomplishing a task incorrectly.
3. Extraneous: performing a task not authorized.
There are also four consequences of human error:
1. Little or no
effect.
2. Damage to equipment/hardware.
3. Personal injury.
4. Catastrophic.
Why are human conditions, such as fatigue, complacency, and
stress, so important in aviation maintenance? These conditions, along with many
others, are called human factors. Human factors directly cause or contribute to
many aviation accidents.
It is universally
agreed that 80 percent of maintenance errors involve human factors. If they are
not detected, they can cause events, worker injuries, wasted time, and even
accidents.