Better Metrics for Improving Human Reliability in Process Safety

Current incident reporting systems do not effectively capture the influence of human reliability on process safety performance. Historical and cultural factors have led to the development of reporting systems with an emphasis on reporting of incidents that have equipment reliability causes and personal safety impacts. This paper cites an approach developed in the aviation industry to reduce impact of human reliability as an example of an approach appropriate also for the process industries. A root cause analysis of 30 public and private incident reports supports the need to establish a reporting and analysis method that establishes a plant's operations failure. An alternative conceptual framework for the process industry illustrates specific types of metrics that can help identify opportunities to improve human reliability and process safety performance.