Human Factors According to Health Term Paper

S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, ineffective fireproofing and a shortage of staircases are highlighted in a preliminary federal safety report into the attacks on the World Trade Center, issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, report concludes that a combination of factors caused both buildings to collapse.

The Ladbroke Grove Rail Inquiry, for example, if management had applied the lessons of past SPADs (Signal Passed at Danger), and if signallers had been adequately instructed and trained in how to react to a SPAD, it may well be the case that the signaller would have been able to send the emergency message in time to enable the (Thames) Turbo to be brought to a halt before reaching a point at which it fouled the path of the high speed train.

According to the France-Stanford Conference on risk, the collapse of the Twin Towers was not surprising when considering the mechanical capacity of the structure to resist such an extremely powerful attack. As in other cases, such an example led to intense thinking in terms of risk analysis, structure behaviour, correcting measures and preventive dispositions. This tragedy confirmed that, beside the consideration of natural hazards in relation with the resistance of structures, the human factor, including terrorists behaviour, is to be accounted for more and more seriously.

Unfortunately most humans appear to be reactive rather than proactive. The whole concept of human factor analysis is to determine the "what could happen" rather than "what did happen." It may take more serious events before this mindset is changed.

Resources

Delage, Pierre. France-Stanford Conference on Risk issues in contemporary science and engineering. 4-6 April 2003. 1 March, 2007. http://francestanford.stanford.edu/Conferences/Risk/Delage.pdf

Health and Safety Executive. 2 March 2007. http://www.hse.gov.uk