AOCOPM 2024 Midyear Educational Conference-346719

346719 - Article 10
Pdf Summary
The document discusses the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS), a framework used by the U.S. Department of Defense to classify and understand human errors leading to Army mishaps. HFACS was developed to address the challenge issued by the Secretary of Defense in 2003 to reduce mishaps DoD-wide. According to the document, approximately 85% of Army mishap fatalities are attributed to human error.<br /><br />HFACS provides a structured approach to analyzing unsafe acts and identifying their underlying causes. Unsafe acts are categorized as errors or violations, with specific codes assigned to various types of judgment, decision-making errors, performance errors, and violations. Unsafe acts are assessed based on their immediate actions and classified according to Decision Errors, Skill-Based Errors, and Violations.<br /><br />Latent failures, which are inadequacies in systems or processes that do not immediately lead to mishaps but set the conditions for them, are also identified. These are further categorized into multiple failure codes to explain why an unsafe situation occurred. The document emphasizes the importance of correctly classifying these latent failures to improve safety measures.<br /><br />Furthermore, individual, supervision, support, training, and standards failures are analyzed to better understand the causes of mishaps. For example, ‘Inadequate Supervision’ might result from leaders failing to monitor mission execution, while ‘Support Failures’ could involve resource management issues.<br /><br />In conclusion, HFACS helps standardize data analysis across DoD components, facilitating trend analysis and improving safety protocols. The framework also assists safety officers, investigators, and unit leaders in performing more comprehensive hazard analyses and informing decisions that could prevent future mishaps. The document highlights the importance of leader presence, proper training, and adherence to safety standards to mitigate risks and reduce mishaps.
Keywords
HFACS
human error
Army mishaps
unsafe acts
latent failures
safety protocols
decision errors
inadequate supervision
risk mitigation
DoD