To err is human, to forgive divine.
On plain reading, this has two implications. First, humans are prone to make mistakes. One need not get upset over such mistakes. Second, it is a virtue to forgive – perhaps the implicit assumption is that it is difficult for humans to practice such forgiveness. While human error is mundane, forgiveness comes to those who rise to divinity. This sounds like a piece of preaching from the scriptures – authentic and irrefutable.
Human error has no more remained simple, as the world has grown in complexity.
Many may recall the report released by the US Institute of Medicine in 1999 entitled, “To Err is Human – Building a Safer Health System”, which showed that preventable medical error had led to large number of deaths in US.
You will agree, a mistake by a pilot may cause a fatal accident leading to death of hundreds of innocent passengers. In fact about 80% of commercial airline accidents occur due to pilot error as per an estimate put out by Boeing. Further, a WHO study on ‘road traffic injuries’ says, over 3400 people die on the world’s roads every day and tens of millions of people are injured or disabled every year. Most of these accidents are caused due to errant human behaviour. To add to this, a new dimension emerges out of the unbridled access to powerful weapons by some rogue nations and terrorist outfits and the possible disaster due to erroneous handling of the same.
Human error has far reaching consequences. It cannot simply be ignored let alone be forgiven.
Most human errors are execution errors caused due to omissions and commissions. These are operational lacunae. The simplest example is the ‘fat-finger’ error, where an operator presses a wrong key while inputting data into a computer system. One can build checks and balances to prevent or minimize errors of omission and commission. The other way is to bring in automation that helps in avoidance of human fatigue related errors in a repetitive work, say on the factory floor. Automation may not be an unmixed blessing unless continuous up-gradation of safeguards is assured.
I don’t intend to rediscover here, the theoretical literature on the types of errors. But, I need to bring into context the other human errors that occur due to failure of judgment. This is difficult to deal with. The consequences of such human errors are getting bitter by the day. The recent example is the bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan in October 2015 by the US forces where scores of innocent civilians lost their lives. The US clarified that it intended to eliminate terrorist outfits in the area but had made a mistake.
The impact of human error is magnified when it occurs within an inefficient and unresponsive environment. Thousands of buildings are built with inadequate safety standards. Factory workers are made to operate dangerous machines without explaining to them the risks of human errors. In Mumbai it is quite common for a vendor’s guy to dangerously step outside a flat in a multi-storied building to fix TV antennae while precariously balancing himself on small projections on the outside wall. This is no less than a daredevil act as the person hardly uses any safety equipment. A small error on his part would cost him his life. Accidents ascribed to human error in such an environment are primarily rooted in factors other than mere human error.
To err may be human, but to forgive may not be so divine.
****
Manoranjan Mishra 