Human Fallibility

A Human Fallibility is a human characteristic that causes errors and mistakes (leading to system failures and unintended outcomes).

• Context:
  • It can manifest through Cognitive Bias with mental shortcuts and decision-making patterns.
  • It can result in Performance Error through attention lapses and cognitive limitations.
  • It can produce System Failure through human errors and operational mistakes.
  • It can impact Critical Process through judgment errors and decision mistakes.
  • It can affect Safety System through human reliability issues.
  • ...
  • It can often lead to Risk Event through error chains and incident cascades.
  • It can often create Quality Issue through process deviations and standard violations.
  • It can often generate System Vulnerability through security mistakes and control gaps.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Minor Error to being a Catastrophic Failure, depending on its error consequence.
  • It can range from being a Simple Mistake to being a Complex Error Chain, depending on its error complexity.
  • It can range from being a Recoverable Error to being an Irrecoverable Failure, depending on its error impact.
  • ...
  • It can interact with System Design through error prevention mechanisms.
  • It can be mitigated by Safety Control through human factor engineering.
  • It can be addressed by Quality System through error detection methods.
  • ...
• Examples:
  • Cognitive Error Types, such as:
    • Decision Biases, such as:
      • Confirmation Bias for information processing.
      • Anchoring Bias for judgment formation.
    • Memory Errors, such as:
      • Recall Error for information retrieval.
      • Recognition Error for pattern matching.
  • Performance Error Types, such as:
    • Skill-Based Errors, such as:
      • Attention Lapse during routine task.
      • Motor Error in physical operation.
    • Rule-Based Errors, such as:
      • Procedure Violation in standard process.
      • Protocol Deviation in safety procedure.
  • ...
• Counter-Examples:
  • System Error, which stems from technical faults rather than human limitations.
  • Random Failure, which occurs due to chance events rather than human mistakes.
  • Design Flaw, which exists in system architecture rather than human operation.
• See: Human Error, Error Prevention, Safety Engineering, Reliability Engineering, Human Factors.

---