Table 1 Definitions of human error (HE)

“A slip is a form of human error defined to be the performance of an action that was not what was intended. Slips can often be interpreted. They often appear to result from conflict among several possible actions or thoughts, from intermixing the components of a single action sequence, or from selection of an appropriate act but in some inappropriate way”

Norman (1981, p1)

“The term error can only be applied to intentional actions. It has no meaning in relation to nonintentional behaviour because error types depend critically upon two kinds of failure: the failure of actions to go as intended (slips and lapses) and the failure of intended actions to achieve their desired consequences(mistakes)”

Reason (1990, p15)

'human error' is a judgment made in hindsight"

Woods et al. (1994, p200)

“Human error in complex and potentially hazardous systems therefore involves human action (or inaction) in unforgiving systems”

Kirwan (1994, p3)

“human error is a consequence not a cause, are shaped and provoked by upstream workplace and organizational factors”

Reason (1997, p126)

"a 'human error ' is the post hoc attribution of a cause to an observed outcome, where the cause refers to a human action or performance characteristic"

Hollnagel (1998, p24)

“If a system performs less satisfactorily than it normally does—due to a human act or to a disturbance which could have been counteracted by a reasonable human act—the cause will very likely be identified as a human error”

Rasmussen (2000, p7)

“Human error is systematically connected to features of people tools, tasks, and operating environment. Progress on safety comes from understanding and influencing these connections”

Dekker (2002, p372)

“Human error is usually defined as any deviation from the performance of a specified or prescribed sequence of actions”

Leveson, (2011, p11)