ABSTRACT
A number of authors have described a range of human reliability assessment (HRA) techniques-a rapidly developing field-see for example Miller and Swain (1987), Reason (1990), Health and Safety Commission (1991), Kirwan (1992a,b). Kirwan (1992a) highlights the generally under-developed nature of human error identification (HEI)—a key component of HRA-compared with probabalistic approaches to risk assessment. In a consideration of the role of human error in failures such as accidents or incidents, Kirwan notes that errors are almost always the product of many factors in the system. Such factors are generally called ‘performance shaping factors’ (PSFs) or, less commonly, ‘performance influencing factors’ (PIFs). Strictly, the terms PSF/PIF give a false impression because the so-called ‘factors’ should more accurately be described as concepts. This paper reports a study to identify factors.
