In an article in Times of India today, an air safety consultant (former member of NTSB) John Goglia said that 80% airline accidents can be attributed to pilots, 40% to maintenance problems. He also suggested to have fatigue management system for efficient job performance like environment management system for improving environmental performance.
We may say that in any activity, the person actually doing the job is an important person and thus his knowledge, skill and interpretation/analysis of data he sees/receives in his job is most important. With poor control on operators regarding their punctuality and discipline, operators already in place may be forced to continue till reliever comes and this may lead to fatigue and errors in his judgement.
Proper selection of the man-power, training, establishing safety procedures, planning of shift duties, procedures for intimation about absence/change of timing well in advance can handle such issues and help in smooth operation of plant.