Human reliability analysis as an evaluation tool of the emergency evacuation process on industrial installation

Human reliability is the probability that a person correctly performs some required activity by the system in a required time period and performs no extraneous activity that can degrade the system. Human reliability analysis (HRA) is the analysis, prediction and evaluation of work-oriented human performance using some indices as human error likelihood and probability of task accomplishment. The human error concept must not have connotation of guilt and punishment, having to be treated as a natural consequence, that emerges due to the not continuity between the human capacity and the system demand. The majority of the human error is a consequence of the work situation and not of the responsibility lack of the worker. The anticipation and the control of potentially adverse impacts of human action or interactions between the humans and the system are integral parts of the process safety, where the factors that influence the human performance must be recognized and managed. The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology to evaluate the emergency evacuation process on industrial installations including SLIM-MAUD, a HRA first-generation method, and using virtual reality and simulation software to build and to simulate the chosen emergency scenes. (author)