Converging on Error Management: A Review of Current Findings and Future Needs

Abstract

For many years, the focus of research in the area of human error was the prevention of erroneous actions and assessments through training and design. However, errors are a fundamental aspect of human adaptation in complex systems and will never be eliminated completely. More recent approaches to error stress the need to minimize its negative consequences through support for error management, i.e., the detection, explanation, and recovery from erroneous actions. For the most part, these efforts have examined the first step in this sequence — error detection. However, there continue to be gaps in our understanding of how operators explain and recover from errors. This paper reviews the current state of error management research and methods. Findings are presented from an ongoing converging operations approach to error management research. Finally, promising areas in which to make further advances in this field are identified.