Ihmistoimet

Ihmistoimet is a Finnish term that translates roughly to human actions or human interventions within a system. It refers to the actions performed by people—such as operators, users, or decision-makers—during operation, maintenance, or responses to abnormal conditions, and it is used to distinguish human actions from automated or machine-driven processes.

In professional contexts, ihmistoimet are a central concern in safety engineering, risk assessment, ergonomics, and human factors research. They encompass a range of activities, from routine operational tasks to corrective or compensatory responses to faults or alarms, and may include manual overrides, decision-making, and procedural adjustments. In risk analysis and safety modelling, ihmistoimet are often analyzed in terms of their likelihood, timing, and possible error modes, sometimes within frameworks like human reliability analysis.

Several factors influence ihmistoimet, including training, procedures and interfaces, workload, fatigue, and organizational culture. Poorly designed procedures or user interfaces can increase the chance of incorrect or delayed actions, thereby affecting system safety and performance. Conversely, well-designed systems that support human performance can reduce risk by aligning tasks with human strengths and limitations.

The concept is closely related to human factors, safety culture, and reliability analysis. Examples of ihmistoimet include an operator manually restarting a failed process, a pilot following a checklist in response to an alert, or a user intervening in a software system to restore functionality.