The war on error: psychology and aviation maintenance

Abstract

[Conclusion]: [Looks at research that is best captured by the term 'Human Factors' - a branch of psychology that draws upon many other fields of psychology for its theoretical and methodological foundations. As stated in a popular introductory text to this field (Wickens, Lee, Liu, & Becker, 2004), the goals of human factors are to: reduce error, increase safety, increase productivity, and increase comfort. This particular research concentrates primarily on the area of maintenance error in the aviation industry.] The safety literature tends to be dominated by discussions of error taxonomies and descriptive models of accident causation, such as the Reason model. I see these contributions as valuable but I also believe that they must be supported by empirical research. Structural equation modelling is a technique that can be used to test assumptions embedded in popular descriptions of accident causation. Through these various studies, we have developed, tested, and cross-validated models that explain how errors can occur in safety-conscious industries. We have also shown how they are linked with violations. In ongoing research, we are seeking to extend the model to include incident reporting, another key psychological variable in the quest to achieve safer and more productive working environments. [In conclusion], one of the lessons we have learned is that human error cannot be eliminated but it can be reduced if we take the trouble to look beyond its immediate causes and study the complex set of circumstances that lies behind any accident or incident.