A Methodology for Analyzing Human Error in Railway Operations

Although human error is recognized as the primary cause of railway accidents and incidents, there have been limitations in finding the root causes of errors and developing effective corrective actions in the Korean railway industry, due to the absence of a systematic method and lack of professional knowledge and skills of investigators. Therefore, there has been a strong need for a systematic methodology for human error analysis. This paper introduces a methodology for analyzing human error in railway operations, called HEAR (Human Error Analysis and Reduction). HEAR is intended to help analysts identify the sequences and various levels of causes of operators' erroneous actions in railway accidents or incidents and make recommendations to eliminate or reduce the future possibility of similar errors and accidents. It was developed based on a thorough investigation of various techniques for human errors analysis and feedback from field investigators