Task analysis for industrial work process from aspects of human reliability and system safety

Area of Science:

• Industrial Engineering
• Human Factors Engineering
• System Safety

Background:

• Engineers often overlook human error, focusing on hardware/software issues, despite its impact on system reliability and safety.
• Inappropriate design of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) or Standard Assembly Procedures (SAP) is a latent cause of unexpected human errors.
• Evaluating SOP/SAP quality is crucial for reducing error probability and effects in industrial work processes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and evaluate the Human Error Criticality Analysis (HECA) method for identifying critical human error problems.
• To assess the practicability of the HECA method in evaluating operation procedures.
• To demonstrate the value of HECA in upgrading human reliability and system safety.

Main Methods:

• Task analysis based on operation procedures (e.g., SOP).
• Analysis of Human Error Probability (HEP) for each human operation step.
• Assessment of error effects on the overall system.

Main Results:

• The HECA method effectively identifies interrelationships between critical human tasks, error modes, and human reliability.
• A case study on initiator assembly tasks confirmed the HECA method's practicability.
• The analysis provides valuable information for enhancing human reliability and system safety.

Conclusions:

• The HECA method is a practical tool for evaluating operation procedures and identifying potential human error issues.
• Implementing HECA can lead to significant improvements in human reliability and overall system safety in industrial settings.
• Focusing on the quality of SOPs and SAPs through methods like HECA is essential for robust industrial operations.