A Methodology for Assessing Safety Programs Targeting Human Error in Aviation

There is a need to develop an effective methodology for generating and evaluating intervention strategies that map current and proposed safety programs onto well-established types of human error. Toward these ends, we conducted 2 studies using recommendations from National Transportation Safety Board accident investigations and two joint Federal Aviation Administration and industry working groups. The goal of these studies was to identify the types of interventions commonly recommended by these agencies, as well as to develop a framework for evaluating the potential impact of specific safety initiatives that target human error in aviation. The results suggest there are at least 5 approaches to reducing human errors associated with aviation accidents. However, not all are equally utilized by the agencies whose safety recommendations we evaluated in this study. Therefore, we propose a framework called the Human Factors Intervention Matrix as a potential tool for evaluating current aviation safety programs, as well as generating more comprehensive interventions in the future.