An evaluation of the experience/training performance-shaping factor in the SPAR-H model: Implications for adaptation and use in the PETRO-HRA model

Abstract

A beginning step of implementing Human Reliability Analyses (HRA) in the petroleum industry is a step in the right direction in order to learn from the nuclear industry and acknowledge the human and organizational factors as both causes and mitigations in the analysis and control of major accident risk. The petroleum industry demands low probabilities of error, because minor slips and lapses can have major consequences and demonstrate major hazards. In this thesis, the Experience/Training performance-shaping factor (PSF) in the SPAR-H model is described and evaluated in light of the psychological and related literature and research on the constructs of experience and training in order to adapt this factor for use in the PETRO-HRA method. The operationalization of experience and training are being investigated in order to reveal their effects on performance. Effect sizes obtained in metaanalytic research of training on performance ranges from medium to large in organizational training. The effectiveness of training on performance is however shown to depend on the training method used (training type), the skill or task characteristic trained, and the choice of evaluation criteria. Training has proved to yield greatest effect on physical tasks and performance, and performance should be measured as behavioral outcomes, which is shown to be the best predictor of actual job performance. The literature review reveals that the construct of experience is complex and multidimensional, and that results of experience on performance should be interpreted bearing this in mind. All measurements reviewed of experience show that experience overall yields positive effects on performance. Greatest effects have been demonstrated when experience is measured at the task level of specificity, and when it is measured as the cumulative amount of experience. A new definition of the experience/training performance-shaping factor should possibly implement several levels of experience and training to choose from, based on petroleum operator history, and add measures that include amount of experience one has, and how much experience at the task level of specificity one has (accumulated task experience).