Admitting Human Error in the Workplace - The Mindset Shift to Attaining Operational Resilience

Abstract

A principal mindset among organizational leaders and managers is the belief that the end goal of attaining human reliability is to achieve flawless performance of job tasking. Despite persistent efforts to enforce compliance, nearly 90% of incidents are still being attributed to human influences at their source. A contemporary perspective sees error as product of the operational system. Human error is accepted as ubiquitous and cannot be categorically eliminated through engineering, automation or process controls. Error is embraced as a system product rather than an obstacle; sources of error are minimized and programs focus on recognition of error in order to disturb its pathway to becoming failure. Achieving safe, reliable and resilient operations begins with a mindset shift in the way leaders view their operation, particularly the human agent within a dynamic, multi-dimensional concurrence where choices are made and actions are taken that lead to outcomes both desired and undesired.