Latent human error is a term used in safety work and accident prevention, especially in aviation, to describe human errors which are likely to be made due to systems or routines that are formed in such a way that humans are disposed to making these errors. Latent human errors are frequently components in causes of accidents. The error is latent and may not materialize immediately, thus, latent human error does not cause immediate or obvious damage. Discovering latent errors is therefore difficult and requires a systematic approach. Latent human error is often discussed in aviation incident investigation, and contributes to over 70% of the accidents.
By gathering data about errors made, then collating, grouping and analyzing them, it can be determined whether a disproportionate amount of similar errors are being made. If this is the case, a contributing factor may be disharmony between the respective systems/routines and human nature or
propensities. The routines or systems can then be analyzed, potential problems identified, and amendments made if necessary, in order to prevent future errors, incidents or accidents from occurring.
See also
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Air safety
Aviation safety is the study and practice of managing risks in aviation. This includes preventing aviation accidents and incidents through research, educating air travel personnel, passengers and the general public, as well as the design of airc ...
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Error
An error (from the Latin ''error'', meaning "wandering") is an action which is inaccurate or incorrect. In some usages, an error is synonymous with a mistake. The etymology derives from the Latin term 'errare', meaning 'to stray'.
In statistics ...
Further reading
* James Reason: ''Human Error'', Cambridge University Press; 1st edition (October 26, 1990)
Citations
* Defense Technical Information Center (1994-12-01). ''DTIC ADA492127: Behind Human Error: Cognitive Systems, Computers and Hindsight''.
External links
* Erik Hollnagel
"The Elusiveness of "Human Error"" 2005
''Human error: models and management'' – James ReasonBritish Medical Journal 2000;320:768–70 (Internet Archive)
Human factors view of accident causation
Safety engineering
Error
Accidents
Human factors
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
References
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