A Framework for Human Factors

Abstract

Even to the casual observer most industrial systems can be seen to be growing more and more complex. As this complexity increases, the need for efficient integration of human beings into the systems which they design and operate grows more important. Although industrial systems may differ in terms of their purpose or their process technology, they all have in common a human element.

The purpose of this conference is to emphasise the human element and to investigate ways and means of better integrating knowledge about human factors into the design and operation of nuclear generating systems.

The purpose of this paper is to outline a general framework for people unfamiliar with human factors.

The concept of human factors or ergonomics is at the same time both simple and complex.

Simply described ergonomics is concerned with the application of life-science knowledge about human characteristics to maximise performance and well-being in any context. This emphasis on linking well-being and performance is important and will be returned to again. At a rn9re complex level, ergonomics recognises the need to treat human beings as multi-dimensional creatures and to integrate information from psychology, anthropometry, physiology and biomechanics with task specific knowledge about each particular job situation. The most complex problem is to identify job demands in terms of different human dimensions and to apply established life science knowledge to determine optimum solutions. This necessarily involves the cooperation of many specialists, particularly engineers and life-scientists.