It's all about the mindset of the engineer!
All of these issues would be of no consequence if the engineer closing the cowls did so correctly! The latches have not been proven to be faulty, ie. open, having been closed correctly.
Cowls should be either open on stays, or fully closed and latched!
It is madness to drop the cowls off the stays and say to yourself ill latch those later!
It requires a discipline and mindset that I'm afraid is not, nowadays, brow beaten into you during the modern abbreviated apprenticeships.
I'm not sure even Human Factors can be used as an excuse. Allowing yourself to be distracted during a critical task borders on negligence! Pilots don't go for a p on finals do they?