Error Management

At the end of this book, we are left with the question of how CRM, which has proven to be so successful in aviation, can be transferred to other sectors and implemented in everyday business life. Or, to go back a step: to whom does this form of error management apply aside from those in the aviation industry? After all, unlike most other industries, aviation is a risk industry and although every industry or company has its own particular risk areas, managers do not arrive at work knowing that they are responsible for the safe transport of hundreds of people each day. They are, however, in charge of business processes, the success of their particular division, and for keeping their work force employed. So the number of errors they make should be limited as well. From this perspective, the answer to the question above is simple: error management is relevant to every organization that wishes to reduce error volumes, whether or not it is in a risk industry. In fact, most organizations will already have taken steps in this direction by trying to eliminate potential error sources and attempting to analyze and resolve errors that have occurred.