Human and organizational factors influencing structural safety: A review: Fid-Bau Portal

Human and organizational factors influencing structural safety: A review

Ren, Xin / Terwel, Karel C. / van Gelder, Pieter H.A.J.M.

Abstract A broad review of the existing literature concerning Human and Organizational Factors (HOFs) and human errors influencing structural safety is presented in this study. Publications on this research topic were collected from the Scopus database. Two research focal points of this topic, namely modelling and evaluating the human error effects on structural reliability, and identifying causal factors for structural defects and failures, have been recognized and discussed with an in-depth literature review. The review of studies with a model focus summarizes the models and methods that have been developed to evaluate structural reliability considering human error effects. Besides, the review of publications on the factor subject outlines the most acknowledged HOFs that influence structural safety. Moreover, an additional spotlight was given to the studies from the offshore industry for the advanced development in HOFs and contributing the first complete Human Reliability Analysis (HRA) method for structural reliability analysis. In conclusion, this study provides a holistic overview of the knowledge developed in existing research on the topic of HOFs and human error influencing structural safety. Furthermore, current developments and challenges are reflected, and future research directions are explored for academics entering and working in this field. Additionally, the insights into HOFs generated from this review can assist engineers with better hazard identification and quality assurance in practice.

Highlights • A comprehensive overview of HOFs influencing structural safety is presented. • The first significant contribution to this subject is found in the Offshore industry. • The socio-technical systems approach is proposed towards the human error issue. • A transfer from a blame culture to a just culture is proposed. • We addressed current gaps and challenges on the topic and explored future research.