A data-based method for assessing and reducing human error to improve operational performance

The author describes the development of a technique called HEART (Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique) designed to assist engineers not only to assess the likelihood and impact of human unreliability but to apply human-factors technology to optimize overall systems design. He explores the identity and magnitude of error-producing factors and presents a battery of defensive measures which can be applied to combat their effects. The method has been applied in a variety of industrial situations and assessed by several enterprises as an aid to cost-effective design and operational decision making. The current indications are that the method produces fairly consistent predictions which assessors have found helpful in both an absolute and relative sense.< >