Assessment of human reliability factors: A fuzzy cognitive maps approach

Human reliability in industrial plants is influenced by several elements, such as environment and work factors. However, there are not many studies dedicated to the assessment of the relative importance of human factors affecting human reliability.In this paper a fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) approach is presented in order to explore the importance of these factors in industrial plants. To this purpose, industrial plants are described in terms of factors affecting human reliability and the causal relationship between them. Finally, an application of FCMs on a food-processing industrial plant is presented to provide some indications for work improvement.Relevance to industryThe relevance of this study to industry is linked to the possibility of providing, through the use of FCMs, some indications for work improvement in industrial plants. The application of FCMs allows to discover which factors are most important in improving human reliability, and therefore decide where to concentrate resources in order to improve the work environment.