Human error in industrial maintenance: A systematic literature review

Human factor plays an inevitable role in maintenance activities and the occurrence of human errors impacts on system reliability and safety, equipment performance and economic results. Many factors, such as work environment, organization, individual features, influence the performance of maintenance technicians with a consequent variability in the success of interventions. This paper presents a literature review concerning Human Error in Maintenance (HEM) with the aim of investigating, through a critical analysis, the current HEM state-of-The-Art in industrial systems and highlighting the research and practice gaps. A systematic review was conducted using two databases (Scopus and Web of Science) and a set of specific keywords in order to identify and select peer-reviewed papers that presented evidence on the relationship between human performance and maintenance activities. A total of 63 studies were selected and then analysed through a pre-determined systematic methodology. This has allowed to classify and critically assess the selected papers as function of: Types and typical human errors in maintenance; error contributing factors; maintenance policies; methodologies for human error analysis; maintenance error consequences; industrial sectors. The analysis outlines the relevance of considering HEM because different error types occur during the maintenance process with non-negligible effects on the system. High-risk sectors, like nuclear power plant or aviation, have strongly taken into account human error in maintenance activities, whereas in manufacturing systems HEM has not received the amount of attention that it deserves. This paper motivates future developments for HEM assessment and management particularly in manufacturing sector, due to the evidenced gap in literature, providing several research opportunities.