ABSTRACT
Ergonomics became a major player in the US nuclear power industry immediately after the Three-Mile Island accident. Since that time, Ergonomics has had major impacts within US nuclear generating plants. Like the Pre-TMI nuclear industry, the US Petro-Chemical industry has been generally unaware of Ergonomics and somewhat resistant to it’s application. Yet experience indicates that human error can be identified as a cause of a large number of accidents within both industries. Stating the problem is simple. “Accidents in the nuclear and petro-chemical industries can be catastrophic, involving major loss of life, vast numbers of injuries, the necessity to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people, billions of dollars in property loss, and enormous, adverse impact on the environment.”
