Quantification of Human Reliability

Human reliability has been brought increasingly into focus during the past years, and several quantitative models for human reliability have been proposed. In a man-machine system analysis of operator tasks in the control room of one of our PVC plants, four alternative models were used for quantification. These were: HEART, TESEO, PROF, and data from Swain & Guttmann’s “Handbook of Human Reliability Analysis”. Based on the experience from this study, it was decided to develop PROF further. This model uses a human reliability data base as a basis for estimating error rates. Most of the data in this data base were collected from open reports. As the amount of such data is limited, it was natural to concentrate on further data collection.At Sandsli, Bergen, Norsk Hydro has developed a full-scale true-copy simulator for the control room at the Oseberg oil production platform in the North Sea. Operator training was first performed, using the simulator, in 1988. This opportunity was used to collect more data on human reliability.