Assurance Technologies Principles and Practices (A Product, Process, and System Safety Perspective) || Human Factors Engineering and System Safety Considerations

✍ Scribed by Raheja, Dev G.; Allocco, Michael

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 342 KB
• Edition: 2
• Category: Article
• ISBN: 0471744913
• DOI: 10.1002/047000942x.ch8

✦ Synopsis

Human errors can cause a product to fail or can result in an accident. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the concept of design for immunity to human errors. A product design, which is immune to errors, contributes toward a robust design. For example, disposable cigarette lighters come in two styles: with and without a cap. A lighter without a cap is not a robust design because the flame is supposed to go out in a few seconds but sometimes does not. The user is responsible for making sure the flame is extinguished. Some people have burned their chests and faces because of such a flame. Lighters with caps do not pose this hazard. They cut off the oxygen supply, extinguishing the flame.

There are many attempts to blame human error as the so-called cause of an accident. Humans will make errors; consequently, systems should be designed to tolerate human error especially when addressing catastrophic risks. Minimally, at least three independent events should occur prior to harm resulting.

An investment in human factors design reduces life-cycle costs. The cost reduction is in terms of saved human lives, reduced training and skill requirements, lower liabilities, and fewer disasters.

Other examples of human errors and design for immunity are the following: In older automobiles, a driver can travel at speeds far above the safe limit. In many new cars, there is a limit on the top speed. In a software project, a new programmer 261