Dirty Dozen of Human Factors
The Dirty Dozen refers to twelve of the most common human error preconditions, or conditions that can act as precursors, to accidents or incidents. These twelve elements influence people to make mistakes. The Dirty Dozen is become a cornerstone of Human Factors in Maintenance training courses worldwide. The Dirty Dozen is not a comprehensive list of human error accident precursors; for example, ICAO Circular 240-AN/144 lists over 300 human error precursors. However, since 1993 (development year of dirty dozen) all areas of the aviation industry, not just aircraft maintenance, have found the Dirty Dozen a useful introduction to open discussions into human error in their businesses, organizations and workplaces.
Whilst The Dirty Dozen list of human factors has increased awareness of how humans can contribute towards accidents and incidents, the aim of the concept was to focus attention and resources towards reducing and capturing human error. Therefore, for each element on The Dirty Dozen list there are examples of typical countermeasures designed to reduce the possibility of any human error from causing a problem.
The dirty dozen are listed below:
1. Lack of communication
2. Distraction
3. Lack of resources
4. Stress
5. Complacency
6. Lack of teamwork
7. Pressure
8. Lack of awareness
9. Lack of knowledge
10. Fatigue
11. Lack of assertiveness
12. Norms
Dirty Dozen of Data
Everyone working in aircraft maintenance is encountering the ‘Dirty Dozen of human factors’. They are an important part of the training for everyone involved in aircraft maintenance processes. So, as aircraft maintenance processes become more digitized and the amounts of data processed increase almost daily, it is necessary to create more awareness for digital and data related needs. We identified common challenges and give tips how to overcome these. Hereby we introduce an additional line of dirty dozen – The dirty dozen of data in aircraft maintenance.
Read also our blog 'Human Interaction with IT Systems in Aircraft Maintenance'
