Human error is the principal causal factor in approximately 80% of all recorded accidents, regardless of the industry involved. But despite the current trend towards automation, human beings are still the key element of all systems and an intrinsic part of their entire life cycle, hence the vital importance of studying the influence of human behaviour on safety. Regulations in some countries already demand analysis of the human factor in addition to conventional safety assessments.

However, in those cases where risk analysis does take the human factor into account, a market deficiency in regard to methods for performing more in-depth analysis means that it generally only does so on a superficial level. Under this premise, there is a definite need for safety studies that take a broader, more comprehensive view of the human factor, or in other words, the human interaction with systems and how it is influenced by different environmental elements, to come up with effective accident prevention strategies.

One of the reasons the human factor is typically absent from system studies is a lack of scientific knowledge regarding the subject, and also how to include it in risk assessments and safety studies. However, leading national and international organisations now demand increasingly safe and reliable systems, which means that taking the human factor into consideration when designing, producing, operating and maintaining a system has never been more important.

Despite the current trend towards automation, human beings are still the key element of all systems and an intrinsic part of their entire life cycle

Ineco’s project

Over the course of two years, the Ineco innovation project has been working to develop a more thorough and transparent method for handling the human element in safety analyses, which, in turn, will enable us to design systems that are more human friendly. The project analysed proven human-factor methodologies and techniques not generally applied to safety studies and managed to extract, simplify and integrate them into risk assessment processes, therefore, making them universally applicable to any sector of the transport industry. The method was selected as the winner of Ineco’s 2019 Innova Awards and the 2019 CANSO Global Safety Achievement Award.

The company has spent years trying to gain a better understanding of how to account for the human factor in safety. Some of the lines of action include the innovation project, coordination between the rail and air navigation sectors, collaboration with universities such as Polytechnic University of Madrid and the University of Málaga, training in human factors and participation in different forums and conferences.

The project began with an exhaustive analysis of human-factor methodologies and science, which were used to begin to extract different tools and techniques and apply them to case studies, while simultaneously developing other methodologies of their own. Given that safety assessments typically concentrate on identifying threats to mitigate their risks, this time, the project team focused on identifying the human mistake or error.

By doing so, they were able to design a process that included an adapted HRA (Human Reliability Assessment), based on the HEART method(Human Error Assessment and Reduction Technique). The process can be run in conjunction with safety studies and can be tailored to each phase in an integrated and traceable manner. The result is that we now have a generic method for including the human factor in risk assessments.

The main goal of the project was to integrate accepted human-factor techniques into a standard safety study in a way that safety technicians will find easy to apply and, in doing so, to develop new techniques, like FARHRA. In addition, the method utilises and customises different tools such as HAZOP sessions, interviews and targeted surveys or questionnaires, to capitalise on expert knowledge, which is the primary source of information in this type of analysis. The next step now is to implement the knowledge and experience in this area in safety studies for aviation, railways or other sectors in order to verify its consistency and internal and external reliability.

The final results will represent an improvement in the design process of systems with a specific requirement for enhanced human output, increasing safety and adding value and recognition to the human role.

How can we ensure that a taximeter is reliable or that a nuclear facility is safe, that a bulletproof vest is really bulletproof or that the MOT that reviews a vehicle does not act arbitrarily? In Spain, more than 1,600 entities ensure that many products, procedures and services available in the market comply with the regulations of their respective sector. A Spanish government body, the National Accreditation Entity (ENAC), is responsible for authorising who guarantees the safety of consumers and end users. Entities must renew their accreditation every year, demonstrating that they comply with the strict requirements of independence, rigour and transparency that are required for this work.

Rail lines

The wide range of products and services subject to receiving a certification endorsed by an ENAC entity covers any type of production and different types of entities, such as testing or calibration laboratories, inspectors, or certifiers and environmental verifiers from practically any sector: industry, energy, environment, health, agriculture and food, research, development and innovation, telecommunications, tourism, services, construction, transport, etc.

The inspection activity of Ineco falls within the latter, specifically within railway, and in 2009 it obtained its first ENAC accreditation as an ‘independent safety assessor’ with the number 76/EI058. In 2015, it was renewed and extended to the fields of rolling stock, energy, infrastructure, maintenance and exploitation and traffic management. The company has a multidisciplinary team consisting of professionals accredited by ENAC. The work of the entities certified by ENAC, moreover, is not only valid in Spain, but also in the over 70 countries with which it has mutual recognition agreements, including the European Union, United States, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates and Mexico, amongst others.

Why an independent safety assessment?

In addition to rolling stock, since the beginning of rail at the end of the 19th century, the main rail elements related to safety have been signalling systems, in order to avoid the greatest risk of all: collisions between trains. From manual signals to lights, to digital systems and radio without physical signals on the tracks –as is the case for ERTMS level 2–, the different control, command and signalling systems (ASFA, LZB, ERTMS, etc.) have evolved to become more complex and sophisticated, always with the objective of guaranteeing the safe circulation of trains.

The current rail lines –conventional and high speed–, are very complex infrastructure that consist of a large number of elements and undergo very extensive legal and technical regulation that requires a high degree of specialisation by the inspectors. From the time they are planned until they are commissioned, European and international regulations require verification that each and every one of the elements and subsystems work correctly, from the simplest, such as the ventilation of a tunnel, to the most complex, such as software.

For this purpose, two types of safety study are carried out. On one hand, risk analyses, in which threats are identified that could bring the system to a potentially dangerous situation and work is being carried out on mitigation measures or barriers to avoid them. They can be carried out in any stage of the project and seek to detect the weak points of the system. Moreover, and on a higher level, there is the type of study known as ISA (Independent Safety Assessment). Unlike risk analyses, ISA can only be carried out by an accredited entity. They are essential to guarantee for a third party –the operator or rail authority– that a new line or modification of an existing line is safe and can begin or continue to be used.