Join Chris and Fred as they unpack the fascinating interplay between psychology and reliability engineering. They dive into the challenges faced in the nuclear industry, emphasizing how psychological factors, rather than engineering flaws, often lead to catastrophic failures. The discussion highlights our struggle with rare events, revealing that humans tend to prioritize immediate gratification over long-term safety. From examining human error in high-stakes jobs to exploring the influence of instrument design on pilot performance, this conversation offers a thought-provoking lens on reliability.
00:00
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Psychology Dominates Nuclear Safety
Nuclear power safety issues are mainly psychological, not engineering failures.
Effective regulation and culture are crucial for reliable nuclear power operation.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Operators Sleeping On Duty
Nuclear plant operators were caught sleeping on the job, risking safety.
This reflects issues in workplace culture and perceived low risk.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Autopilot and Driver Complacency
Tesla autopilot failed to detect a white semi truck obscured by clouds.
The distracted driver trusted automation, illustrating psychological complacency.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Chris and Fred discuss the psychology behind (bad) reliability decisions. Humans run (and ruin) everything!
Key Points
Join Chris and Fred as they discuss the different ways psychology can influence reliability engineering decisions. Reliability is often something where feedback is delayed. That is, failure will occur years after a shortcut was made during design. And that is where psychology steps in.
Topics include:
Let’s go nuclear. Australian politicians recently looked at creating a nuclear power generation industry where there previously was none. None of the conversations about feasibility revolved around psychology and the role that regulation and industry culture need to play. All the big issues in nuclear power plants have not been engineering failures … they have all been breakdowns in psychology.
Humans are not good at properly dealing with rare events. Whether it is smoking, over-eating, speeding, climate change, safety, or reliability, we struggle to make rational decisions. Why? Psychology. We are animals, and not all animals are evolved to invest in the future. Society and civilization tend to involve us fighting out our primal urges to ‘eat all the sugar we can eat right now.’ And that includes sleeping today and not worrying about the disaster we might miss.
And that sucks for reliability. It is really easy to delay/avoid/postpone reliability engineering stuff, as that offers immediate gratification (we don’t have to deal with it this week). But there is always a price to pay, and that price gets much higher the longer you delay/avoid/postpone. Even though you can do reliability and quality early enough to speed everything else up!
Enjoy an episode of Speaking of Reliability. Where you can join friends as they discuss reliability topics. Join us as we discuss topics ranging from design for reliability techniques to field data analysis approaches.
Speaking Of Reliability: Friends Discussing Reliability Engineering Topics | Warranty | Plant Maintenance