scholarly journals Aircraft Assembly Snags: Human Errors or Lack of Production Design?

Aerospace ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 391
Author(s):  
Ageel Abdulaziz Alogla ◽  
Mansoor Alruqi

To err is an intrinsic human trait, which means that human errors, at some point, are inevitable. Business improvement tools and practices neglect to deal with the root causes of human error; hence, they ignore certain design considerations that could possibly prevent or minimise such errors from occurring. Recognising this gap, this paper seeks to conceptualise a model that incorporates cognitive science literature based on a mistake-proofing concept, thereby offering a deeper, more profound level of human error analysis. An exploratory case study involving an aerospace assembly line was conducted to gain insights into the model developed. The findings of the case study revealed four different causes of human errors, as follows: (i) description similarity error, (ii) capture errors, (iii) memory lapse errors, and (iv) interruptions. Based on this analysis, error-proofing measures have been proposed accordingly. This paper lays the foundation for future work on the psychology behind human errors in the aerospace industry and highlights the importance of understanding human errors to avoid quality issues and rework in production settings, where labour input is of paramount importance.

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhangming Ma ◽  
Heap-Yih Chong ◽  
Pin-Chao Liao

Purpose Human error is among the leading causes of construction-based accidents. Previous studies on the factors affecting human error are rather vague from the perspective of complex and changeable working environments. The purpose of this paper is to develop a dynamic causal model of human errors to improve safety management in the construction industry. A theoretical model is developed and tested through a case study. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors defined the causal relationship between construction and human errors based on the cognitive reliability and error analysis method (CREAM). A dynamic Bayesian network (DBN) was then developed by connecting time-variant causal relationships of human errors. Next, prediction, sensitivity analysis and diagnostic analysis of DBN were applied to demonstrate the function of this model. Finally, a case study of elevator installation was presented to verify the feasibility and applicability of the proposed approach in a construction work environment. Findings The results of the proposed model were closer to those of practice than previous static models, and the features of the systematization and dynamics are more efficient in adapting toward increasingly complex and changeable environments. Originality/value This research integrated CREAM as the theoretical foundation for a novel time-variant causal model of human errors in construction. Practically, this model highlights the hazards that potentially trigger human error occurrences, facilitating the implementation of proactive safety strategy and safety measures in advance.


Author(s):  
REZIE BOROUN ◽  
YASER TAHMASBI BIRGANI ◽  
ZEINAB MOSAVIANASL ◽  
GHOLAM ABBAS SHIRALI

Numerous studies have been conducted to assess the role of human errors in accidents in different industries. Human reliability analysis (HRA) has drawn a great deal of attention among safety engineers and risk assessment analyzers. Despite all technical advances and the development of processes, damaging and catastrophic accidents still happen in many industries. Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique (HEART) and Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM) methods were compared with the hierarchical fuzzy system in a steel industry to investigate the human error. This study was carried out in a rolling unit of the steel industry, which has four control rooms, three shifts, and a total of 46 technicians and operators. After observing the work process, reviewing the documents, and interviewing each of the operators, the worksheets of each research method were completed. CREAM and HEART methods were defined in the hierarchical fuzzy system and the necessary rules were analyzed. The findings of the study indicated that CREAM was more successful than HEART in showing a better capability to capture task interactions and dependencies as well as logical estimation of the HEP in the plant studied. Given the nature of the tasks in the studied plant and interactions and dependencies among tasks, it seems that CREAM is a better method in comparison with the HEART method to identify errors and calculate the HEP.  


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 3333
Author(s):  
Alessandro Giacotto ◽  
Henrique Costa Marques ◽  
Eduardo Afonso Pereira Barreto ◽  
Alberto Martinetti

Manufacturing and assembling aircraft require hundreds of different machines for various process applications. The machines have different complexity and often different ages; however, they have to ensure a higher precision than other industrial fields. Recent technology advancement in maintenance approaches offers a wide range of opportunities to provide performance and availability. The paper discusses how the maintenance technologies applicable to the various machines need to be appropriately supported by a production environment, called “ecosystem”, that allows their integration within the process and their synergy with the operators. (1) A background analysis of the aircraft production environment is offered. (2) A possible framework for designing a proper ecosystem 4.0 for integrating maintenance activities with design solutions and data gathering is provided. (3) A case study based on the assembly line of specific aircraft is adopted for testing the validity of the framework. (4) Finally, a discussion highlights the critical points of the research, underlying future work.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evica Stojiljković ◽  
Bojan Bijelić ◽  
Marko Cvetković

Human reliability assessment is becoming increasingly important in risk assessment in all industrial systems. All methods for human reliability assessment are used to estimate human error probabilities, which is a measure of human reliability. Human error assessment is certainly a challenge fo r all the experts involved in risk assessment today. In Serbia, this issue has not received proper attention yet. Therefore, this paper presents the case study which confirmed that the usage of Absolute Probability Judgement for proper human reliability assessment. This approach was used in a case study of the Electric Power Company in Serbia (hereinafter EPCS) for the purpose of the analysis accident of a repair intervention on a 10/0.4 kV steel lattice tower “Nova Kolonija” (jurisdiction of EPCS, Veliki Trnovac, ED “Jugoistok”, Nis, Serbia). The case study performed at the EPCS has confirmed that the conventional APJ approach is not only highly applicable for quantification of human errors, but also comprehensive and simple to use in risk assessment of complex systems. Key words: Absolute Probability Judgement, Human Reliability Assessment, Accident, Case Study


Author(s):  
Ewan Ferlie ◽  
Sue Dopson ◽  
Chris Bennett ◽  
Michael D. Fischer ◽  
Jean Ledger ◽  
...  

This chapter analyses the role of think tanks in generating a distinctive mode of policy knowledge, pragmatically orientated to inform and shape issues of importance to civil society. Drawing on political science literature, we argue that think tanks exploit niche areas of expertise and influence to actively mobilize policy analyses and recommendations across diverse stakeholders. Through our exploratory mapping of think tanks, geographically concentrated within London, we characterize their influence as significantly boosting knowledge intensity across the regional ecosystem. In particular, we study the empirical case of one London-based think tank which powerfully mobilized policy knowledge through its formal and informal networks to build influential expert consensus amongst key stakeholders. We conclude that such organizations act as key knowledge producers and mobilizers, with significant potential to influence policy discourses and implementation.


Author(s):  
Petrik Runst

Abstract All law is relatively coarse after its initial implementation as the legislature cannot foresee all contingencies that can arise in the actual application of the law. Therefore, decisions need to be made by street-level administrators as novel and particular circumstances arise. Economists have largely ignored the political science literature on street-level bureaucrats, such as policemen, welfare case managers, or regulatory agents. I present a case study in the context of market entry regulation in Germany. Qualitative and quantitative evidence suggests that bureaucratic discretion exists, that is, administrative actions can be found on different ends of a decision space, and that its effects are potentially large. Administrators do not apply legislation in a uniform manner and we observe a systematically different application of rules across subnational jurisdictions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 378
Author(s):  
Jaco Griffioen ◽  
Monique van der Drift ◽  
Hans van den Broek

This paper sets out to enhance current Maritime Crew Resource Management (MCRM) training, and with that to improve the training of technical and non-technical skills given to bachelor maritime officers. The rationale for CRM training is improving safety performance by reducing accidents caused by human error. The central notion of CRM training is that applying good resource management principles during day-to-day operations will lead to a beneficial change in attitudes and behaviour regarding safety. This article therefore indicates that enhanced MCRM should play a more structural role in the training of student officers. However, the key question is: what are the required changes in attitude and behaviour that will create sufficient adaptability to improve safety performance? To provide an answer, we introduce the Resilience Engineering (RE) theory. From an RE point of view, we elaborate on the relation between team adaptability and safety performance, operationalized as a competence profile. In addition, a case study of the ‘Rotterdam Approach’ will be presented, in which the MCRM training design has been enhanced with RE, with the objective to train team adaptability skills for improved safety performance.


2020 ◽  
pp. 113288
Author(s):  
Ali A. Mohammed ◽  
Allan Manalo ◽  
Wahid Ferdous ◽  
Rajab Abousnina ◽  
Omar AlAjarmeh ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3553
Author(s):  
Philippe Nimmegeers ◽  
Alexej Parchomenko ◽  
Paul De Meulenaere ◽  
Dagmar R. D’hooge ◽  
Paul H. M. Van Steenberge ◽  
...  

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.


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