Identification and Assessment of Human Error during the Process of Operating Various Types of Fire Apparatus

Firefighting is a difficult and dangerous job. This job requires decision-making and speed of action in critical situations. Such conditions increase the probability of human error in the firefighting activities. Setting up fire apparatus as the first step of emergency response is associated with high criticality. The purpose of this study is identification and assessment the risk of human error while setting up and operating fire apparatus.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 2019. Tasks related to the operation of industrial firefighting apparatus were studied and analyzed by Hierarchical Task Analysis. Then, human errors in the operation of fire apparatus were identified and analyzed using the systematic human error reduction and prediction approach (SHERPA). Finally, appropriate prevention solutions were proposed to reduce the risk of errors.

A total of 480 errors were detected for 130 tasks as 49.58% of them were action errors, 39.17% check type, 10.42% communication and 0.83% were selective errors and no retried error was observed. According to the results of risk assessment, 8.33% of the errors were unacceptable, 24.17% were undesirable, and 48.33% were acceptable risks but need to be revised and 19.17% acceptable without the need for revision.

The process of operating fire apparatus can be associated with human errors and prevent successful firefighting operations. Therefore, these errors should be identified and controlled using appropriate methods.