Coming soon · Book Profile
Human Reliability Maintenance
A comprehensive engineering reference that consolidates human reliability, human error, human factors, and safety in engineering maintenance—with emphasis on aviation and power generation—into a single volume of concepts, methods, and mathematical models.
A profile of this book is on the way.
What it’s about
Each year industry spends hundreds of billions of dollars maintaining engineering systems, and roughly 80% of that is spent rectifying chronic failures of systems, machines, and—critically—humans. This book by B.S. Dhillon fills a gap by combining human reliability, human error, human factors, and maintenance safety into one accessible reference. Beginning with the mathematical and conceptual foundations (Boolean algebra, probability distributions, Markov methods, reliability and correctability functions), it moves through analysis methods (FMEA, fault tree analysis, root cause analysis, probability trees, error-cause removal programs) and then applies them to maintenance error in general, in aviation, and in power generation. It documents the human, environmental, and design causes of maintenance error, offers guidelines for reducing error and improving safety, and supplies a battery of mathematical models for predicting maintenance personnel reliability and analyzing single and redundant systems. Written to require no prior knowledge and richly supported by worked examples and end-of-chapter problems, it serves maintenance engineers, reliability and safety professionals, human factors specialists, designers, administrators, students, and researchers who want to minimize or eliminate human error in maintenance.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- A maintenance engineer, reliability/safety professional, human factors specialist, designer, administrator, student, or researcher who wants to understand and reduce human error in engineering maintenance.
- The problem
- Human errors in maintenance cause costly equipment failures, accidents, and fatalities, yet the relevant knowledge is scattered across many diverse journals, reports, and conference proceedings. The reader feels overwhelmed by having to consult numerous disparate sources and uncertain about how to quantify and control human error in maintenance.
- The plan
- Learn the foundational mathematical and human factors concepts.
- Master analysis methods such as FMEA, fault tree analysis, root cause analysis, probability tree, and the Markov method.
- Study the causes, types, and environments of maintenance error in general, aviation, and power generation.
- Apply domain-specific guidelines and tools (e.g., MEDA, ECRP, checklists) to reduce error and improve safety.
- Use the provided mathematical models to predict maintenance personnel reliability and system behavior.
- The payoff
- Fewer maintenance-induced failures, accidents, and fatalities. · Higher equipment availability, safety, and productivity. · Quantified, defensible estimates of maintenance personnel reliability and system availability.
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Related profiles we’ve built
Additional reading
- Mathematical Aspects of Reliability-Centered Maintenance · Howard L. Resnikoff
Mentioned in the preface as a companion volume that provides a formal mathematical treatment of the subjects covered in the main text.
- Handbook: Maintenance Evaluation and Program Development (MSG-1) · 747 Maintenance Steering Group, Air Transport Association
The direct predecessor document to RCM, used to develop the initial maintenance program for the Boeing 747. It is cited as the first application of decision-diagram techniques.
- Airline/Manufacturer Maintenance Program Planning Document: MSG-2 · Air Transport Association, R & M Subcommittee
An improved version of MSG-1 that was used to develop maintenance programs for the DC-10 and L-1011. The book states that RCM is a more rigorous and expanded version of the MSG-2 logic.
- Reliability and Long Life Design · Robert P. Haviland
Cited in a footnote as an 'excellent detailed discussion of the physical processes present in the failure mechanism,' providing deeper background on the nature of failure.
- Operations Management · Richard Schonberger
Cited by the author to support the definition of core competencies, specifically mentioning that expert maintenance can be a way an organization distinguishes itself positively.
- The Benchmarking Workbook · Gregory Hines
Cited by the author for its definition of a core competency, which includes managing and supporting facilities and capital equipment, directly validating maintenance as a core process.
- The Benchmarking Management Guide · American Productivity and Quality Center
Cited by the author to identify business measures that core competencies should impact, such as Return on Net Assets and Asset Utilization, which are central to the book's thesis on maintenance.
- RCM II · John Moubray
The book recommends this text for a detailed, in-depth approach to Reliability Centered Maintenance, a key technique discussed in Chapter 10.
- The Balanced Scorecard · Robert Kaplan and David Norton
The book dedicates a chapter to explaining the Balanced Scorecard framework and how the book's maintenance strategies and indicators align with it.
- Introduction to TPM: Total Productive Maintenance · Seiichi Nakajima
This is a foundational text for the Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) concept, which the author positions as a key phase in the 'Maintenance Era' that the book seeks to move beyond.