Human Factors and Barrier Failures in Process Safety: Analysing Root Causes and Developing Safety KPIs

Abstract

In highly hazardous industries, such as chemical and oil and gas, catastrophic incidents often result from a combination of human factors and safety barrier failures. The primary objective of this research was to identify the root causes of such incidents by focusing on the failure of operational barriers and the role of human error. Using a case-study approach, this research analyzed five major incidents, including explosions and fires. Techniques such as Sequentially Timed Events Plotting (STEP) analysis, Five Whys, and Barrier Analysis were applied, alongside data analysis to quantify the contribution of different factors.

The results reveal that human errors contributed to 31% of the incidents, with barrier failures accounting for 44% of the root causes. Key issues included inadequate training, procedural non-compliance, and design flaws, which escalated the severity of the incidents. This research also highlighted the importance of a strong safety culture, clear communication, and Inherently Safer Design and Prevention through Design (PtD) principles in preventing accidents and reducing human errors. A framework of key performance indicators (KPIs) was developed to monitor and improve safety performance, focusing particularly on human factors, such as training effectiveness, fatigue management, and human factors in risk assessments.

KPIs are increasingly being developed and adopted across various industries with the goal of monitoring both human performance and operational safety. These indicators provide decision-makers with data-driven insights, enabling them to implement proactive changes that can prevent incidents before they occur. However, since many organizations are still in the early stages of integrating KPIs into their safety systems and much of the data regarding the effectiveness of these KPIs remains confidential, there is limited publicly available research on their real-world impact. This research addresses that gap by developing specific KPIs tailored to the identified weaknesses in process safety management.