What does threat and error management (TEM) primarily focus on?

Threat and error management (TEM) primarily focuses on the inter-relationship between safety and human performance. This approach recognizes that human factors play a crucial role in aviation safety and seeks to identify, manage, and mitigate threats and errors that can occur during flight operations. TEM involves understanding how external threats, such as environmental conditions or operational challenges, impact human performance, as well as how pilot errors can affect overall safety.

By focusing on the dynamic interactions between threats, errors, and human performance, TEM aims to enhance decision-making and situational awareness, ultimately leading to safer flight outcomes. This relationship is vital, as effective management of threats and errors can prevent accidents and improve pilot efficacy.

In contrast, the analysis of aircraft technical specifications, scrutiny of physical aircraft design, and regulation of air traffic control procedures, while important aspects of aviation, do not directly address the human factors that TEM is designed to manage.