Sleep, Lapses and Mistake
Slips, lapses and mistakes;
Slips can be thought of as actions not carried out as intended or planned, e.g. ‘transposing digits when copying out numbers, or misordering steps in a procedure.
Lapses are missed actions and omissions, i.e. when somebody has failed to do something due to lapses of memory and/or attention or because they have forgotten something, e.g. forgetting to replace an engine cowling.
Mistakes are a specific type of error brought about by a faulty plan/intention, i.e. somebody did something believing it to be correct when it was, in fact, wrong, e.g. an error of judgement such as mis-selection of bolts when fitting an aircraft windscreen.
Violations sometimes appear to be human errors, but they differ from slips, lapses and mistakes because they are deliberate ‘illegal’ actions,