[SEJ] Xin Ren: Measuring the impacts of Human and Organizational Factors on human errors in the Dutch construction industry using Structured Expert Judgment

31 January 2023 14:00 till 15:00 | Add to my calendar

While structural safety has long been viewed and treated with great importance, it remains a fundamental and critical issue in the construction industry. It has been widely acknowledged that the leading cause of structural failures is human error, rather than technical problems. The rise of a new system approach towards human error no longer views it as the cause of accidents or failures, but as a symptom of improper system design, organization, or other troublesome issues embedded inside the socio-technical system. Human errors arise from the working context and situations created by underlying factors such as the working environment and the organizational structure. These factors are the Human and Organizational Factors (HOFs) that can shape people’s performance at work and lead to the occurrence of errors. Therefore, it is important to gain a better understanding of these factors before structural safety can be improved in practice.

A previous study has identified the critical HOFs in the Dutch construction industry. In this study, the impacts of these HOFs on human error occurrences are measured using the Classical Model for Structured Expert Judgment. The survey data are analyzed using the ANDURYL toolbox. As a result, the critical HOFs are quantified for their contribution to the human error occurrence in structural design and construction. In addition, these results are compared with existing studies in other safe-critical industries.

Besides the results, insights into ethical requirements for performing Structured Expert Judgment will be presented.