Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) using the SHERPA Software
Used by pharmaceutical manufacturers, medical device designers, process safety managers, and more… The Human Factors Risk Manager (HFRM) software can be used to analyse and reduce the risk of human error. It is applied in safety critical industries and for quality assurance and production issues in manufacturing sectors.
UPDATE: The software has recently been renamed to SHERPA (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Process Analysis) Software. This has better ties to the SHERPA methodological paper that provided the foundation for this work back in 1986.
A Fast, Easy Tool for Risk Reduction and Process Analysis.
Optimise your organisation`s most critical tasks and reduce human error, with SHERPA Software (Systematic Human Error Reduction and Process Analysis). A world leading Human Factors software tool.
FOR SAFETY: This software was developed by Dr David Embrey (Managing Director of Human Reliability Associates) and supports human factors risk assessments to be used in safety cases. The software includes Hierarchical Task Analysis, Predictive Human Error analysis and analysis of factors which influence human performance (Performance Influencing Factors); key milestones in the HSE UK Human Factors Inspectors Toolkit:
http://www,hse.gov.uk/human factors/toolkit.htm
FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PRODUCTION ISSUES: This software a detailed analysis of human performance by helping to bridge work-as-imagined and work-as-done. The initial Hierarchical Task Analysis is developed by talking to frontline staff, engineers and managers to find consensus on the task. This is complemented with a walkthrough of the task. A failure analysis and PIF (Performance Influencing Factors) analysis is then done to anticipate the potential for failure and the factors driving that failure. The results can then be fed back into Quality Improvement (QI) initiatives.
In the video, the Human Factors Risk Manager software is applied to draining a high-pressure absorber bass and is a task that is performed in the Oil and Gas Sector, on COMAH (Control of Major Accident Hazard) sites. The demonstration starts with the Task Analysis, which as Dr Embrey explains, is done with subject matter experts and is done on a top-down basis, with the overall objective (draining the absorber bass) set at the top, and the various tasks and sub-tasks which are required to achieve this objective, set out below. The video starts with the initial part of the analysis having already been completed and this is because in practice, the software-user will often work with the original procedure before engaging in the interactive session with the people who carry out the task. Once the task analysis is complete, a risk analysis is performed to see what type of failures might occur. The risk analysis considers the existing risk control measures, and the factors which will influence failure.
A key feature of this software is that on completion of the whole analysis, a procedure is produced automatically, which is logical, directly related to the task analysis and contains the risk information which came from the risk assessment. In addition, the software produces a text-based representation of the analysis, meaning the analysis is automatically documented in the form of a comprehensive report.
The Human Factors Risk Manager (HFRM) or SHERPA Software helps users to manage their risk more effectively. The human element can be the most important in terms of the initiating event which caused the accident. Human errors compromise profitability as well as safety. The software delivers analysis results, it’s easy to use, and can be taken on board by non-specialists, and anyone wanting to get to grips with human reliability and human error prevention in their organisation.
HRA specialise in the Human element of safety critical systems and are interested in how to optimise human performance and prevent human error. They are a leading consultancy in applying a systematic and scientific approach to understanding and preventing human error and have applied this to systems such as nuclear power generation, aviation maintenance, healthcare, pharmaceutical manufacturing and anywhere human error can have a major impact upon safety.
Find out more about our services, training, and software: www.humanreliability.com
If you want to go straight to our FREE 30min training on how we use this software for Human Factors Safety Critical Task Reviews (HFCTR) and Safety Critical Task Analysis (SCTA) then go here: https://the.humanreliabilityacademy.com/courses/mini-course-on-hfctr