Human Performance and how it Affects Safety: Copyright Material IEEE, Paper No. PCIC-2018-15

What does NFPA 70E say about human performance and safety? This was a topic of much discussion during the 2018 cycle. Committee members believe that applying the principles of human performance training will reduce the number of human errors in the workplace, and thusly, reduce the number of incidents. This makes sense, as 75% to 80% of all incidents are the result of human error. It may not be your error that is the cause of an incident. It could be an error in manufacturing that is discovered when the tool or other product injures someone. Or it could be laziness during construction or possibly a lack of knowledge on the part of the installer or designer. If a technician is called out to troubleshoot that equipment, it could cause injury due to the defect created by poor human performance. This paper will look at some of the newest industry applications of Human Performance according to NFPA 70E 2018, along with a few of the initial actions and developments (strides) taken by the companies of the authors. This paper also discusses the efforts used by one company to reduce incidents through training and evaluation of human performance.