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Human Errors Can be Reduced and, YES, Eliminated!

Chris Bujak • April 12, 2023

"I'm only human; I make mistakes. It cannot be prevented." We have heard this before. What was your response? Did you accept this answer?  We are here to say - There is another option!


Human Errors Can be Reduced and, YES, Eliminated! 


Through our day, mistakes occur; from Selecting the wrong items, Omitting information, Providing wrong information, and of course, the Mises: Mis-reading, mis-measuring, mis-adjusting, mis-aligning.

The Institute of Medicine study estimated that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die in hospitals each year due to mistakes, and that medical mistakes are the 8th top killer in the U.S., costing $8.8 billion a year.


The Big Benefits of Eliminating Human Error


Some of our customer's error elimination successes:

  • Improved quality - Incoming data defects decreased from 90% to 5% in 2 weeks + Outgoing defects decreased by 70% + Customer defects decreased from 288 to 2 parts per million.
  • Increased productivity - 15% and 30%.
  • Process cycle time decreased 65%.
  • Decreased repetitive task motions >200K / year.


With the average Mistake Proofing solution often costing < $100.


Using the Mistake Proofing (aka PokaYoke) Improvement Method to Eliminate Human Error

The Mistake Proofing method, a step by step improvement method (following Plan-Do-Study-Act), helps a team redesign a process/product so errors cannot occur. This includes:

  • Product/process simplification.
  • Techniques to identify common conditions that cause errors.
  • Find observable errors AND where the error opportunity began.
  • Red flags and a power scale to evaluate the power of a solutions.
  • Implement "Devices" to eliminate the error opportunity. 


A Mistake Proofing (or Poka Yoke) Device

Devices help you redesign a process so that it CANNOT be performed incorrectly. Consider all the devices in place shopping online, providing your credit card, or completing a form or application. Here is another device we take for granted: 


Error: Electrical plug oriented backwards.

Defect: Reversed electrical polarity.

Device: Make plug spades different width so reversed plug provides immediate feedback before inserting plug into outlet.


Mistake Proofing Training Link to Mistake Proofing Webinar
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