Improving Human Performance in Slovakia: Barriers and Solutions

1. Ľudovít JELEMENSKÝ Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, STU BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

2. 1th P R I S M Seminar 2003 Current State of Human Factors Knowledge in Slovakia and Barriers, Which Need to be Removed to Improve Human Performance 30th – 31th October 2003 B R A T I S L A V A 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

3. 2th P R I S M Seminar 2004 European experiences with transferring of information provide on human factors to Seveso II safety reports, mainly focus on emergency planning and response 27th – 28th May 2004 TATRANSKE MATLIARE 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

4. RESULTS FROM SEMINARS The Seveso II requirements fulfillment differ in the different countries. Current practice is that some requirements are neglected. Most of the Safety reports worked out by the operators has been returned for insufficient stress on various fields. Certain requirements are often completely ignored / omitted. HF is considered very superficially, more qualitatively than quantitatively, but the most of all cases ignored / omitted even if the HF is recognized to be the most contributing factor in the major industrial accidents which took place. HF importance is underlined by recent major industrial accidents, each had had a considerable contribution from the human failure point of view. 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

5. RESULTS FROM SEMINARS • The safety documentation in the field of the prevention of major accidents is • required by the act n. 261/2002 Z.z. in SLOVAKIA • major accident prevention policy - MAPP • safety management system - SMS • risk assessment/ analysis • emergency planning (internal / external) • safety report Hidden responsabilities – MAPP and SMS MAPP and SMS are managing documents, which provide the basis for dealing with the HF in relation to the potential major accident occurrence. This documentation is supposed to be the output of the HF analysis – measures resulting from the HF assessment and analysis. • Covered fields: • organizational structure • risk identification and assessment • operation management • change management • emergency planning • performance monitoring • audits 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

6. RESULTS FROM SEMINARS • There are two main streams in integrating the HF into the quantitative risk assessment: • an attempt should be made to treat the HF explicitly so that the QRA directly reflects • the influence of the technology operators and maintenance on the occurrence of • accidents. • the QRA should be hardware-focused and the HF should be “hidden” in the failure • rate of a certain component in order to reflect an average standard of human • performance …a bit of heuristics… • These two approaches can be combined in order to obtain a very representative • qualitative assessment reflexing the “status quo” of the system. • This can be achieved by careful choice of the basic events: • detailed development of the failure tree where appropriate • integrate the HF into equipment where suitable 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

7. HF in Safety Documents Identification of working positions, which can have influence at safety of system or subsystem; Description and short characterization of working positions; Analysis and human reliability assessment of certain working positions: Ø      To indicate critical places in human – machine interaction Ø      To summarize the set of human errors and they potential causes (HAZOP and the other qualitative hazard techniques; ØTo provide quantification of human reliability assessment (quantitative technique is not direct recommended); 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

8. HF in Safety Documents Categorization/descriptions difficulties of subsystems (compound hardware, complex of start-up or shut-down procedures and difficulties with communications); To declare the system of people selection at working positions: ØPhysical health and to indicate the periodical monitoring; ØPersonal factors (mental health, self-control, resistance at stress) 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

9. HF in Safety Documents To declare regular performance of next activities: ØErgonomics default ØDefault and uncertainty with software ØUncertainty and exact define responsibilities for operators ØUndesirable workload ØUndesirable rotation of working period ØNon-favorable working conditions ØOutside working influence – live style ØTo provide information about the risk which follows from their working activities ØTraining of hazard situation and emergency response ØLevel of communication in regular and critical situations To collect information about needs, feelings and comments of workers/operators. 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague

10. Future Development of HF in SLOVAKIA Continued improvements in models for incorporating human factors into a quantitative risk assessment in chemical processes. Human factors analysis focus on the dynamical aspect of human – machine interaction because by the dynamical analysis it becomes possible to consider specific sequences and accident paths, which are no identified by the traditional way. Better understanding of the impact of company and plant culture, management systems, maintenance practices on the reliability of process plant equipment, in the case of modern plants, the root causes of human errors can be effectively identified by the application of an accurate and structured method that accounts for the cognitive processes in the management system. To developed generally available data for human error. 11th International Symposium Loss Prevention 2004 Prague