Patent ID: 7263510

Claim:
A method for performing human factors process failure modes and effects analysis for a process, the method comprising: receiving, at a data processing device, inputs representing at least one task involved in the process, the task including at least one human activity and described using at least one verb; extracting, with the data processing device, the at least one verb from the received inputs representing the at least one task involved in the process; searching, with the data processing device, a database for at least two potential human errors resulting from the human activity, the at least two potential human errors resulting from the human activity being related to the at least one verb extracted by the data processing device; transmitting, from the data processing device, an output representing the at least two potential human errors; receiving, at the data processing device, an input representing which of the at least two potential human errors were selected for evaluation: transmitting, from the data processing device, an output representing at least one of the human errors selected for evaluation; receiving, at the data processing device, an input representing a likelihood of occurrence of the human error; receiving, at the data processing device, an input representing a likelihood of correction of the human error; receiving, at the data processing device, an input representing a potential severity of an effect of the human error; calculating, with the data processing device, a risk of potential harm from the received inputs representing the likelihood of occurrence of the human error, the likelihood of correction of the human error, and the potential severity of the effect resulting from the human error; comparing, at the data processing device, the calculated risk of potential harm with a risk threshold; transmitting, from the data processing device, an output representing errors that exceed the risk threshold; receiving, at the data processing unit, an input representing additional analysis of errors that exceed the risk threshold; and transmitting, from the data processing device, an output representing a human factors process failure modes and effects analysis report.