Human Factors (FAA General Test Prep)

Includes explanations for answers and where to find them.

8538. How is a quality system assured?

A—By an independent organization.

B—By a dependent organization.

C—By an internal reporting and auditing system.

[c] A quality system must include procedures for planning, conducting, and documenting internal audits to ensure compliance with the approved quality system. The procedures must include reporting results of internal audits to the manager responsible for implementing corrective and preventive actions. (AM.I.L.K1) — FAA-H-8080-30

8539. According to Dr. James Reason, there are two types of human failure which can occur. They are:

A—active and latent.

B—mental and physical.

C—proper and improper

[a] There are two types of failure which can occur—active and latent. An active failure is one in which the effects are immediate. A latent failure occurs as a result of a decision made or action taken long before the incident or accident actually occurs. (AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30

8540. Many areas of aviation have shifted their focus from eliminating error to

A—preventing and managing error.

B—identifying and mitigating error.

C—reducing and containing error.

[a] The goal of the Maintenance Error Decision Aid (MEDA) is to investigate errors, understand root causes, prevent and manage accidents (most of the factors that contribute to an error can be managed). (AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30

8542. All of the following are consequences of human error, except

A—mental stressor.

B—catastrophic.

C—personal injury.

[a] Human error is defined as a human action with unintended consequences. There are four consequences of human error: little or no effect, damage to equipment/hardware, personal injury, or catastrophic damage. (AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30

8543. The positive aspects of human factor issues are referred to as the

A—Magnificent Seven.

B—Dirty Dozen.

C—MEDA.

[a] Subsequent to the development of the “Dirty Dozen,” the “Magnificent Seven” list of human factors issues was developed and focused on positive aspects. These seven issues are:

1. We work to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.

2. Safety is not a game because the price of losing is too high.

3. Just for today—zero error.

4. We all do our part to prevent Murphy from hitting the jackpot.

5. Our signature is our word and more precious than gold.

6. We are all part of the team.

7. We always work with a safety net.

(AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30

8544. The SHEL model is another human factors tool. The goal is to determine not only what the problem is, but also

A—where and why it exists.

B—how we prevent the problem.

C—how many factors contribute to the error

[a] The goal of the SHEL model is to determine not only what the problem is, but where and why it exists. (AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30

8545. The three types of human error are

A—omission, commission, and extraneous.

B—active, latent, and stressor.

C—mental, situational, and physiological.

[a] Human error is the unintentional act of performing a task incorrectly that can potentially degrade the system. There are three types of human error:

1. Omission: not performing an act or task.

2. Commission: accomplishing a task incorrectly.

3. Extraneous: performing a task not authorized.

(AM.I.L.K11) — FAA-H-8080-30

8541. When we think of aviation safety in a contemporary way, human error is

A—the starting point.

B—the ending point.

C—the intervention point.

[a] The “SHEL” model is another concept for investigating and evaluating maintenance errors. The acronym SHEL represents software, hardware, environment, and liveware—with the human as the starting point for all. (AM.I.L.K2) — FAA-H-8080-30