Introduction to Fire Safety Management

4.9 Human failure
Human beings are prone to fail due to limitations in perception
of risk and their ability to interpret and act on
information. There is a variety of ways in which human
failure may manifest itself in the workplace. On some
occasions people may omit owning up to something
they should have done, or taking an inappropriate course
of action. These failures occur very often for complex
reasons that involve individual perceptions, motivation,
job design and organisational factors.
There are two broad types of human failure – ‘errors’,
where the failure to follow safety rules are made unconsciously,
and ‘violations’, where there is a deliberate
failure to comply.
4.9.1 Human errors
Human errors are occasioned by lapses of attention or
mistakes
➤ Lapses of attention – although the intentions and
objectives of the individual are correct they make
Human
failures
Figure 4.15 Types of human failure
Errors
Violations
Safety culture
an error in performing a task, perhaps due to competing
demands for their attention. People at work,
particularly in jobs that are routine and/or pressured,
may either forget to follow a particular safety rule or
even forget that there is a rule to follow
➤ Mistaken acts/omissions – there are two distinct
types of mistakes that are made in the workplace.
The fi rst type is where the individual knows the rules
but applies the wrong rule to a situation. These
types of errors are caused when a person incorrectly
interprets information based upon their expectation
of what should happen. The other type of mistake
can be made as a result of a lack of knowledge,
skills or experience of the individual which leads to
the individual either not taking an action they should
take or taking an inappropriate course of action.
Minimising human error
Organisations can only reduce the incidence of human
error by addressing the entire relevant job, organisational
and individual factors. This will require effective
systems for consultation, training, supervision and active
monitoring.
Skill-based
errors
Mistakes
Slips of
action
Lapses of
memory
Rule-based
mistakes
Knowledgebased
mistakes
Routine
Situational
Exceptional
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