Application of activity theory to analysis of human-related accidents: method and case studies

Article


Yoon, Y., Ham, D. and Yoon, W. 2016. Application of activity theory to analysis of human-related accidents: method and case studies. Reliability Engineering and System Safety. 150, pp. 22-34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2016.01.013
TypeArticle
TitleApplication of activity theory to analysis of human-related accidents: method and case studies
AuthorsYoon, Y., Ham, D. and Yoon, W.
Abstract

This study proposes a new approach to human-related accident analysis based on activity theory. Most of the existing methods seem to be insufficient for comprehensive analysis of human activity-related contextual aspects of accidents when investigating the causes of human errors. Additionally, they identify causal factors and their interrelationships with a weak theoretical basis. We argue that activity theory offers useful concepts and insights to supplement existing methods. The proposed approach gives holistic contextual backgrounds for understanding and diagnosing human-related accidents. It also helps identify and organise causal factors in a consistent, systematic way. Two case studies in Korean nuclear power plants are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method. Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) was also applied to the case studies. The results of using HFACS were then compared with those of using the proposed method. These case studies showed that the proposed approach could produce a meaningful set of human activity-related contextual factors, which cannot easily be obtained by using existing methods. It can be especially effective when analysts think it is important to diagnose accident situations with human activity-related contextual factors derived from a theoretically sound model and to identify accident-related contextual factors systematically.

KeywordsAccident analysis; Accident model ; Human error ; Causal factors ; Activity theory ; Activity system model
PublisherElsevier
JournalReliability Engineering and System Safety
ISSN0951-8320
Electronic1879-0836
Publication dates
Online02 Feb 2016
Print01 Jun 2016
Publication process dates
Deposited13 Apr 2016
Accepted24 Jan 2016
Output statusPublished
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2016.01.013
Web of Science identifierWOS:000373553800003
LanguageEnglish
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