TABLE OF CONTENTS All humans make errors. Many errors have nothing to do with safety, but those that do can lead to an accident. These are the errors we must try to prevent. Remember, under small errors lurk a large error.
Human errors that affect industrial settings can be classified into six general categories: slips or aberrations, lack of knowledge, over- or undermotivation, impossible tasks, mindset, and errors by others.
Slips or aberrations occur despite your best intentions to do the task safely. This can come from inattention or distraction. It often occurs on routine tasks in which you may have put yourself on "autopilot." An outside-the-plant example of autopilot might be when you get in your car and it seems to drive itself home from work without much attention from you. Have you ever planned to go shopping after work but missed your turn because you were driving on autopilot? As a troubleshooter, you should beware of being on autopilot on routine troubleshooting or simple tasks. Inattention can also come from thinking about one thing while doing another thing. Humans have a very difficult time doing two tasks at once. Always concentrate on the task at hand.
Distraction can come from other activities occurring nearby. Again, always concentrate on the task at hand. That can sometimes be hard to do when there is a guy nearby breaking up concrete with a jackhammer. If you cannot concentrate on the job at hand, try...
