Understanding Human Performance, Error, and Risk in Aviation

Human factors play a critical role in aviation safety, quality, and compliance. Many incidents, nonconformities, and operational failures can be traced back to human performance limitations, communication breakdowns, and ineffective error management rather than technical faults.

Henning Aviation’s Human Factors and Error Management – Overview Course provides a practical, non-technical introduction to human factors principles and how they influence safety, quality, and operational performance. The course focuses on understanding error, managing risk, and improving behaviours, rather than assigning blame.

Course Outline:

Introduction to human factors in aviation

Human performance and limitations

Understanding error, violations, and unsafe acts

The Swiss Cheese Model and accident causation

Communication, teamwork, and situational awareness

Error management strategies and defences

Human factors within quality, maintenance, and production environments

Creating a positive safety and reporting culture

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Understand the principles of human factors and error management

Recognise how human performance affects safety and quality

Identify common human factor risks in aviation operations

Apply basic error management strategies in the workplace

Support a just culture and continuous improvement

Benefits of the Course:

Clear, practical overview delivered in a half-day format

Relevant to maintenance, production, quality, and management roles

Supports regulatory and customer human factors expectations

Improves safety awareness, communication, and teamwork

Suitable for all staff levels across aviation organisations