A NEW VIEW OF THE ROLE OF HUMAN FACTORS IN CAUSING ACCIDENTS

People are the key components of industrial processes. They are involved in the design process, operation, maintenance, etc. There is not a single step in industrial plants life cycle without some sort of human involvement. Based on human nature, human error is possible in all parts of the process life cycle. Processes are generally not well-protected from human errors since many safeguards are focused on equipment failure. Consequently, human error is an important contributor to risk for most processes.This is evidenced by the number of major accidents that have been attributed to this cause. Therefore it is vital that the factors influencing the likelihood of errors be identified and assessed to determine if improvements of the human factor in the design processes are needed. On the whole, improving human factors in the design processes can produce not only improvements in safety but it can also contribute to quality, productivity and employee job satisfaction.