Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, University of Wisconsin-Madison Chapter

Speaker:  Najmedin Meshkati, PhD, CPE

 Professor, University of Southern California, Viterbi

A common characteristic of complex, large-scale technological
facilities such as chemical processing plants, refineries, energy
conversion and generation systems (e.g., nuclear, fossil fuel,
thermoelectric power plants, gas processing facilities), off-shore oil
drilling for production rigs, is that large amounts of potentially
hazardous, flammable, combustible or pressurized materials are
concentrated and processed in single sites under the centralized
control of a few operators.  The effects of human error in these
facilities are often neither observable nor reversible.  Consequently,
error recovery is either too late or impossible.  Catastrophic
breakdowns of these systems, created by man-made and natural causes,
pose serious threats and long-lasting health and environmental
consequences for workers in the facility, for the local public, and
possibly for the neighboring region and the whole country.  Attesting
are accidents at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant (in the US,
1979), Bhopal chemical processing plant (in India, 1984), Chernobyl
nuclear power station (in Ukraine, 1986), and BP Deepwater Horizon
offshore platform (in the US, 2010).  The Chernobyl accident
demonstrated, for the first time, that the effects of any such nuclear
accident would not be localized, but rather would spill over into
neighboring countries and have global consequences.  The radioactive
fallout resulting from Chernobyl was detected all over the world, from
Finland to South Africa.  Specifically, the Europeans, in addition to
serious health concerns, have had to deal with significant economic
losses and serious, long-lasting environmental consequences.  This
phenomenon has been described most succinctly as a nuclear accident
anywhere is a nuclear accident everywhere.

For the foreseeable future, despite increasing levels of
computerization and automation, human operators will remain in charge
of the day-to-day controlling and monitoring of these systems.  Thus,
the safe and efficient operation of these sociotechnical systems is a
function of the interactions among their human (i.e., personnel and
organizational) and engineered subsystems.   The underlying rationale
and major objective of this talk is to highlight and demonstrate the
critical effects of human factors considerations and safety culture in
the safety of complex hazardous, complex, large-scale sociotechnical
systems.  This is done by analyzing the four well-known accidents at
such systems -- Three Mile Island (TMI), Bhopal, Chernobyl, and BP
Deepwater Horizon.  Moreover, by integrating the common causes of
these four accidents, a policy framework and/or guideline facilitating
adherence to those identified, safety-ensuring, factors is suggested.

*The recorded seminar will be located at
http://videos.med.wisc.edu/event.php?eventid=39