ABSTRACT
The study of accident analysis and prevention did not cross into the area of human factors engineering or ergonomics until the mid-1980s when it became clear that there were substantial psychological contributions involved that explained many connections among system design, social processes, and human error leading to the unwanted results. In earlier times, the role of human error was prominent in the human factors framework, and it was generally assumed that error rates would lead to accidents and injuries eventually. Today, the role of other variables in the system are better understood. This is also an area of human factors and ergonomics where management plays perhaps its greatest role.
