Purpose: – The purpose of this paper is to review current literature analyzing human factors in maintenance, and areas in need of further research are suggested. Design/methodology/approach: – The review applies a novel framework for systematically categorizing human factors in maintenance into three major categories: human error/reliability calculation, workplace design/macro-ergonomics and human resource management. The framework further incorporates two well-known human factor frameworks, i.e., the Swiss Cheese model and the ergonomic domains framework. Findings: – Human factors in maintenance is a pressing problem. The framework yields important insights regarding the influence of human factors in maintenance decision making. By incorporating various approaches, a robust framework for analyzing human factors in maintenance is derived. Originality/value: – The framework assists decision makers and maintenance practitioners to evaluate the influence of human factors from different perspectives, e.g. human error, macro-ergonomics, work planning and human performance. Moreover, the review addresses an important subject in maintenance decision making more so in view of few human error reviews in maintenance literature.