Data Integrity and Human Error
Prevention of human error is essential to guarantee data integrity.
For example, which is more important to patient safety, data that has been intentionally falsified or data that has been altered by human error?
The answer is the same.
It is estimated that up to 80% of events that threaten the assurance of data integrity are human error.
Security and audit trails in systems do not prevent human error.
In other words, the prevention of human error itself is an urgent issue.
In data integrity assurance and quality risk management, it is important to detect human error in the process as well as to take countermeasures against failures of structural equipment and analytical instruments.
For example, there can be transcription errors for transcription work, calculation errors for calculation work, input errors for input work, etc.
Each procedure must include checks for such errors.
It is possible to devise a form that includes a check box, but it would be desirable to have a separate person check important data.
pointing and calling (occupational safety method)
However, it is difficult to implement separate checks for all processes.
For example, train conductors check the opening and closing of doors, but it is not practical to have two conductors on board one car.
Therefore, “pointing and calling” is implemented. Depending on the industry and workplace,The “pointing and calling” is also called “pointing (confirmation) and calling” or “pointing and calling (chanting),” depending on the industry and workplace. Although it is a one-person check, it is a threefold check that involves “visual confirmation,” “pointing,” and “vocalization.
It is said that the finger-pointing became popular because it was practiced by the engineers of steam locomotives of the Japanese National Railways.
At the time, the engineer operating the train was blind, so he had his assistant check the signals several times, using the same finger pointing motion.
It is said that the locomotive section supervisor saw this, praised it, and made it a rule.
Today, in addition to the railroad industry, safety checks are performed in a wide range of industries where safety checks are important, including aviation, transportation, construction, and manufacturing.
For example, suppose there is a situation in which a certain switch is operated.
There are data that investigate how much error suppression can be achieved with or without ‘pointing to the target and checking the target’.
（1）Press the key without doing anything.
（2）Point to it and then press the key.
（3）Call out and then press the key.
（4）Pointing, calling out, and then pressing a key. A total of 200 sessions were performed on 10 people each.
The results of the work performance in terms of the incidence of key press errors are shown below.
・When operated without any ⇒2.38%
・If you only call it and operate it ⇒1.00％
・When operated by pointing only ⇒0.75％
・When operated by pointing and calling⇒0.38%
The result was that the error rate was reduced to one-sixth that of the case in which the finger was pointed and the call was made, compared to the case in which the finger was not pointed and the call was made without any action.
※Source: Effectiveness of pointing and calling out, Test experimental record (1996, Railway Technical Research Institute, push error rate).
By pointing at the object, calling its name, and listening to its voice with one’s own ears, the brain is activated and attention is heightened, an effect that is said to use three times more brain power than when operating the device without any other means.
However, even when finger pointing is implemented, 0.38% of errors occur. In other words, out of every 1,000 times a person performs a task, he or she is bound to make a mistake about four times.
Comment