Human error data collection

Human reliability data required for safety assessments can be provided through the collection and analysis of human error data. The sources of data for use in safety analysis are real and simulated operation. Human error data may be collected using error reporting systems, observation of operator performance, or automatic data logging. An automatic data logger offers a number of advantages including nonintrusiveness, an ability to collect large amounts of data for little cost and effort once installed, accurate determination of the number of error opportunities, and the avoidance of some motivational problems such as incomplete reporting of errors. Human reliability is very sensitive to the conditions under which the task is performed. Hence quantitative human error data must be accompanied by information concerning PSFs. In order to record, interpret, and analyse observed failures consistently, a framework is required which incorporates a human error taxonomy and structures information concerning the task and the plant. The framework is influenced by the intended application of the data. In addition to providing information for safety assessments, human error data collection has applications in a number of other areas including design and training