IMPACT OF HUMAN ERRORS AND HYPO-VIGILANCE ON TRANSPORTATION SAFETY

Habib Hadj Mbrouk

Abstract: The alertness drop of the human operator is one of the main causes of incidents and accidents in road and rail transport. As far as we know, in the field of rail transport safety, the chronobiological aspect of alertness has not yet been addressed. However, the rotation rate of the human operators work schedules sets the same problem as shift work. To take into account the chronobiological data can improve safety, proposing solutions to adapt work schedules to the circadian changes of the human operator functional capacities. To determine the times of best performance by the human operator and to make them match his work schedules improves the reliability of the man-machine system and reduces the risk of accident. This article presented a bibliographical study on the concepts of chronobiology alertness and performance by highlighting the contributions and limitations of the recommended measures to detect and prevent the drowsiness of the human operator. He then proposes a methodological approach of application of chronobiology vigilance in the field of the safety of transport.

Keywords: Public Transport, Railway Safety, Human Error, Vigilance, Chronobiology, Circulation Accident.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15623/ijret.2017.0601001