ABSTRACT
Accident and incident investigation shows that human error plays a significant contribution in 60–80% of aircraft mishaps. All humans make mistakes; human error is unavoidable and inevitable, but in a safety critical environment, consequences may be fatal. Human factors (HF) applies the knowledge of human capabilities and limitations to the aviation environment to improve safety and efficiency. HF is a multidisciplinary approach incorporating: psychology, physiology, medicine, sociology, anthropometry, engineering and ergonomics. Crew resource management (CRM) is the practical application of HF knowledge using all available resources to achieve safe and efficient flight. CRM skills facilitate crew interventions at each level; by avoiding, reducing, detecting and managing these errors, crew can revert to a safe flight environment prior to an incident/accident occurring. CRM programs are being further adapted for use in a number of other safety critical environments such as medicine, nuclear industry, offshore oil industry and fire fighting.
