Human reliability assessment in a 99Mo/99mTc generator production facility using the standardized plant analysis risk-human (SPAR-H) technique

Introduction. Reducing human error is an important factor for enhancing safety protocols in various industries. Hence, analysis of the likelihood of human error in nuclear industries such as radiopharmaceutical production facilities has become more essential. Methods. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted to quantify the probability of human errors in a Mo-99/Tc-99m generator production facility in Iran. First, through expert interviews, the production process of the Mo-99/Tc-99m generator was analyzed using hierarchical task analysis (HTA). The standardized plant analysis risk-human (SPAR-H) method was then applied in order to calculate the probability of human error. Results. Twenty tasks were determined using HTA. All of the eight performance shaping factors (PSFS) were evaluated for the tasks. The mean probability of human error was 0.320. The highest and the lowest probability of human error in the Mo-99/Tc-99m generator production process, related to the 'loading the generator with the molybdenum solution' task and the 'generator elution' task, were 0.858 and 0.059, respectively. Conclusion. Required measures for reducing the human error probability (HEP) were suggested. These measures were derived from the level of PSFS that were evaluated in this study.