Abstract:

As transportation systems grow in scale and complexity, human and organizational factors (HOF) remain decisive in shaping safety outcomes. This paper presents sector-based qualitative findings from twenty semi-structured interviews across aviation, rail, road, and water transport. Interview themes were coded and quantified using a 5-point importance scale, enabling a comparative portrayal of human and organizational influences on safety. Results show that aviation exhibits the highest integration of HOF—driven by leadership commitment, mature safety culture, and intensive training—while road transport shows lower organizational support despite high human-factor salience (fatigue and decision-making). Across sectors, the most consistently important factors were situational awareness, communication and teamwork, leadership commitment, and reporting and learning systems. The study contributes a cross-sector view of how integrated HOF practices foster resilience and suggests targeted improvements for sector-specific safety strategies.