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Assessing Human Factors in the Transition to Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) as a Sustainable Aviation Fuel: A Systematic HFACS Analysis of Hydrogen Incidents Across Industries

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Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics (HCII 2025)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 15777))

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Abstract

The transition to liquid hydrogen (LH2) as a sustainable aviation fuel presents significant environmental benefits, especially in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but on the other hand introduces new challenges and risks, especially related to human factors. This study utilises a modified Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS-H2) framework to systematically analyse 222 hydrogen-related incidents across different industries. The results show that most errors emanate from latent organisational failures, such as organisational influences (fallible decisions) that affect supervisory practices and create preconditions for unsafe acts. These dormant failures significantly contribute to the formulation of unsafe acts on front-line operators during hydrogen operation and need to be managed for the safe utilisation of LH2. The study highlights the necessity for extensive training, powerful organisational processes, transparent regulations, and technological advancements to manage all the emerging risks. The operation with H2 in various industries presents many similarities with the operation of LH2 in aviation, and therefore, the findings provide foundational knowledge to improve safety, not only during the transition to hydrogen fuel but also when LH2 became a reality with its continuous use as the most sustainable aviation fuel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Safety and Accident Investigation Center, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire, UK

    Panagiotis Delimpeis & Wen-Chin Li

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  1. Panagiotis Delimpeis
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  2. Wen-Chin Li
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Correspondence to Panagiotis Delimpeis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Coventry University, Coventry, UK

    Don Harris

  2. Cranfield University, Cranfield, UK

    Wen-Chin Li

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Delimpeis, P., Li, WC. (2025). Assessing Human Factors in the Transition to Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) as a Sustainable Aviation Fuel: A Systematic HFACS Analysis of Hydrogen Incidents Across Industries. In: Harris, D., Li, WC. (eds) Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics. HCII 2025. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 15777. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93721-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-93721-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-93720-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-93721-7

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