Safety analyses/RAMS
Human factor analyses and MTO analyses
"Human factors" means those factors that influence people in dealing with the technical facility.
Human factor analyses can go in two directions:
- towards the future:
Here, potential weak points are analyzed and evaluated. - Past-oriented:
Here, accidents and near-accidents are subjected to analysis and evaluation.
Important for both types of analysis is that besides people and technology, aspects relating to the workplace, operational and organisational structure, operational documents, and environmental factors are also included in the analysis. These analyses are called MTO analyses.
Forward-looking analysis and evaluation
This future-oriented analysis and assessment covers the possible risks and vulnerabilities before they cause an accident. Examples include risks of interoperability, the ergonomics of a new human-machine interface in a locomotive, new working time models, or modified work instructions and procedures. In this way, weak points can be eliminated in advance or their potential effect reduced by additional mitigation measures.
TÜV NORD will support you in this analysis by means of an interdisciplinary team of engineers and industrial and organisational psychologists with many years' experience in risk analysis and with specially developed methods for forward-looking MTO analysis.
Retrospective analysis and evaluation
The analysis of accidents or near-accidents reveals which factors contributed to the accident occurring. The relationship between human behaviour and accidents is simple to determine in the case of a mistake or a technical failure. However, such a connection is more difficult to prove in organisational factors, such as missing or faulty management decisions, goal or task conflict, failure to apply experience, or tolerated deviation from routine. Only if the right factors are identified, can the company learn from them and take appropriate remedial measures.
TÜV NORD provides you with extensive support from experienced engineers and qualified specialists in the fields of industrial and organisational psychology.
