Process Safety Analysis Considering Human Factors in High Tech Industries

Since the first missions and until today, the aerospace industry has been making significant technological advances and developments, working in the edge of innovation and technology. Despite the considerable advances in this sector, the degree of complexity and the risks associated are inherent to the process. In this sense, the development of safety strategies, including human factors approach, is a way to promote process safety in the design of the projects, construction, operation, and maintenance, in land, air and space. Although NASA had implemented several safety barriers in their operations since its beginning, some major accidents occurred, notably Columbia (2003) and Challenger (1986). A LOPC caused by an O-ring seal failure in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) at lift-off, started a huge explosion that disintegrated the shuttle in the air. In its turn, Columbia’s accident showed an organizational belief that risk and failure were normal parts of space flight, compromising the reliability and credibility of the space program, which was inmate after this. However, as a natural evolution of the industry, in 2020, the private space sector, led by SpaceX, made a successful flight, nineyears after the last manned launch in the United States, signalling a possible resumption of NASA space missions. Additionally, the impletion of system safety concepts in NASA,which is the application of engineering and management principles, criteria and techniques to optimize safety within the constraints of operational effectiveness, time and cost throughout all phases of the system life cycle, brought a wider perspective of risks. Thus, the way in which the private sector manage risks, considering the lessons from the past and the present needs, has brought an interesting way to guarantee the process safety of its operations, both on land, as in air and space. In this sense, this study presents a systemic analysis of the Columbia and Challenger accidents, considering human factors and contrasting with the successful flight done by private space sector, highlighting the human factors that promotes safety.