Human error management approach in practice: the use of HERCA tool for a systematic analysis of human errors

Abstract

In recent years, human errors have been perceived as circumstances contributing to the organizational learning process. On the other hand, as inevitable products of human performance, human errors have been cited as a factor with a high impact on various types of losses for organizations. To reduce the negative consequences of human errors and increase the potential of their positive impact, it is of tremendous importance for organizations to manage them. This study applied the Human Error Root Cause Analysis (HERCA) tool to analyze human errors and their real causes. Based on the literature review, additional parameters were identified and included in data collection to increase the quality of the data collection phase as a crucial step for understanding the circumstances that led to an error. Research for this study was conducted on a sample of 176 human errors in a floor-producing company.