Accident Causation Models & Effectiveness to Understanding the Problem

What are accident causation models and what examples exist? Why is research on human factors such a critical component of accident prevention?

Accident causation models are systems used to determine the causes of accidents. The most popular example of an accident causation model is the "Swiss Cheese Model”. The Swiss Cheese model of accident causation, originally proposed by James Reason, likens human system defenses to a series of slices of randomly-holed Swiss Cheese arranged vertically and parallel to each other with gaps in between each slice (SKYbrary Aviation Safety, 2021). There is also the SHEL Model: Software, Hardware, Environment, Liveware, and the 5M model: Man, Medium, Machine, Management, and Mission. Aviation thinking began with technical thinking which refers to only the technical failures which occur, this then evolved to human factors, and then to organizational factors which “views safety in a systemic perspective and the proactive trend of data gathering prior to the investigation of an accident formulated the rationale of the safety management system” (Accident Causation, understanding safety, n.d.).

Human factors are a critical component of accident prevention because they can be easily controlled. The human is the one operating the machine, so they should be in the best condition possible to do so, for their own safety, their crew’s safety, and the passengers’ safety. Safety management systems such as employee training, employee qualification, risk assessment, incident tracking, and safety policies have all evolved and improved over time. When it comes to human factors and the prevention of accidents, extra measures related to pilots’ health can be prioritized and made more strict in order to make sure that all pilots are in their best condition and trained the best that they can be, which will result in a minimal risk for human factor related incidents.

References

Accident causation. Understanding Safety. (n.d.). from https://www.aviationsafetyplatform.com/pedia/understanding-safety/general/accident-causation.

James Reason HF model. SKYbrary Aviation Safety. (2021, October 26). https://skybrary.aero/articles/james-reason-hf-model.