This book provides an analysis of the origin and effect of human errors in engineering. Using cases from everyday construction and large-scale accidents, the circumstances associated with the creation of errors are illustrated, along with strategies for their prevention, with the goal to eventually minimize cost overruns, delays, and accidents.
The book features a discussion of the circumstances related to error proneness, the review of some sixty mishaps or near misses from real-life construction, the systematic analysis of 238 large-scale accidents in engineering systems, the perspective of psychology on the origin of faulty human performance, and a review of the relation of management to error proneness.
Raphael Moura is a Regulatory Specialist and Researcher focused on the key elements of an effective safety management system at high-risk facilities, including human factors. He is Superintendent for R&D and Environment at the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels ― ANP. Dr. Moura is also editor of the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems Part B: Mechanical Engineering. His industrial experience includes 8 years as Technician and as Engineer, designing offshore facilities for civilian and military applications.
Franz Knoll has continuously been involved in research about human errors in construction. He has been the voice of the practice, being a practical engineer himself during most of his career of more than 60 years. In his publications and lectures, he has discussed strategies and methods to limit the frequency of human errors (gross errors as recognized by Gauss) and their effect on the quality and proneness to accidents in construction work.
Michael Beer is Professor and Head of the Institute for Risk and Reliability, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. His research activity focuses on uncertainty quantification in engineering with emphasis on imprecise probabilities. He is Editor-in-Chief of the ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part A Civil Engineering and Part B Mechanical Engineering. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering (Springer 2015). He is Chairman of the European Safety and Reliability Association (ESRA) and Co-Chair of Risk and Resilience Measurements Committee (RRMC), Infrastructure Resilience Division (IRD), ASCE; he is serving on the Executive Board of the International Safety and Reliability Association (IASSAR) and on the Board of Directors of the International Association for Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management (IAPSAM).
