SIMPLY failing to tighten a bolt is the most common way that people cause
accidents at nuclear power stations.
Researchers from Japan鈥檚 electricity industry analysed 193 incidents caused
by human error at nuclear plants in Japan and found that 15 per cent of them
were due to poor 鈥渢orque management鈥� by workers. Other causes were miswiring
terminals, fitting the wrong component or an 鈥渙perational slip due to
颈苍补迟迟别苍迟颈辞苍鈥�.
Mistakes were more likely to occur when workers were under pressure or when
components were poorly designed. Some 60 per cent of all human errors happened
when reactors were being maintained in accordance with safety laws, says Yuko
Hirotsu from the Central Research Institute in Tokyo (Cognition, Technology
and Work, vol 3, p 82).
Advertisement