Managing errors

It is a fact of life that humans make errors. We attempt to make sense of the world in which we live by making inferences and decisions, solving problems, and drawing conclusions. This creative capability combined with our ability to adapt partly explains why we have been so successful in our environment. But in achieving this success, we also make errors. Most of the errors we make are inconsequential and have no lasting effects, some become positive events in that we learn from the situation and thus avoid repeating the error and precipitating an accident (the so-called 'near miss') and some have disastrous consequences. Although it is generally recognised that human error cannot be prevented (and indeed, some would argue that it would not be desirable to do so), we do know we need to develop techniques to manage our propensity to make errors. This is particularly true in safety-critical situations such as those found in the process control industries, aviation and medicine, where human error could seriously disadvantage the outcome. The aims of the paper are to consider human error within the context of systems design, and to put forward some recommendations concerning its management.