Without the intervention of maintenance personnel, equipment used in complex
technological systems such as aviation, rail and marine transport, and medicine
would drift towards a level of unreliability that would rapidly threaten efficiency
and safety.
Despite the essential contribution of maintenance to system reliability, maintenance
is also a major cause of system failure. The rate of power station outages increases
shortly after maintenance, maintenance quality is a major concern in the chemical
industry, and in aviation there is evidence that maintenance is contributing to an
increasing proportion of accidents.1 As automated systems become increasingly
common, humans are performing less direct manual control of equipment and
systems. As a result, maintenance is becoming a major remaining point of direct
interaction between people and technology, where human capabilities and
limitations can have a significant impact on system safety and reliability.
Understanding the human factors in maintenance is more necessary than ever if we
are to improve safety and reliability in aviation. |
