Human reliability and ergonomics: a literature review from 1963 to 2011.

This study reviews the academic literature on human reliability from the ergonomics perspective. The methodological approach used in this analysis combines several techniques, including bibliometric, content analysis, and social network analysis. The initial sample consisted of 304 articles, which totalized 1,872 citations, published in 94 journals, from the 47-year period between 1963 and 2011. From this initial sample, only 50 articles (16%), totalizing 471 citations are classified as ergonomics area, published in 14 journals, which involve 108 authors, with 471 citations. This sample was expanded via the seminal studies of ergonomics. These articles were coded and tabulated according to their year of publication, the number of publications per journal, major areas of interest, and the relationship between the articles and the research methods discussed. Networks were prepared by keywords, co-citations, and cross-citations.

Human reliability in petrochemical industry: an action research.

This paper aims to identify conflicts and gaps between the operators' strategies and actions and the organizational managerial approach for human reliability. In order to achieve these goals, the research approach adopted encompasses literature review, mixing action research methodology and Ergonomic Workplace Analysis in field research. The result suggests that the studied company has a classical and mechanistic point of view focusing on error identification and building barriers through procedures, checklists and other prescription alternatives to improve performance in reliability area. However, it was evident the fundamental role of the worker as an agent of maintenance and construction of system reliability during the action research cycle.