An Introduction to Human Factors and Ergonomics ISEN 330 8/22/2023 Maryam Zahabi Text material: Ch. 1 What is HFE? Definition (Adopted from Sanders & McCormick, 1993):The discovery and application of information about human behavior, abilities, and other characteristics to the design of tools, machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments for productive, safe, comfortable, and effective human use Your book: HFE is a discipline that considers the cognitive, physical, and organizational influences on human behavior to improve interaction with products and processes. Interdisciplinary science concerning the capabilities, tendencies, and limitations of people Applied to design of Jobs Workplaces Equipment Products, Devices Organizations Systems 2 History of HFE 1890’s – 1920’s: Foundations of IE: studies of selection, training, work-rest schedules, time & motion studies of industrial workers Frederick Taylor Scientific management in manufacturing Time studies, emphasizing labor productivity, economic efficiency “Taylorism”: identify the best way of doing a task Frank & Lillian Gilbreth Motion studies Designer of modern kitchen 3 History of HFE 1890’s – 1920’s: Frederick Taylor, Frank & Lillian Gilbreth: studied selection, training, workrest schedules, time & motion studies of industrial workers 1940’s (World War II): Experimental psychologists in USAAF studied human performance issues (characteristics of successful pilots, the effects of environmental stressors), also basics of anthropometry Taylorism: principle of matching individuals to jobs, selecting “best suited” Why are our “best of the best” pilots crashing aircrafts? Alphonse Chapanis (1917-2002): Army lieutenant, pioneer in aviation safety, “founding father” of HFE Pilot error greatly reduced with more logical and differentiable controls 4 History of HFE 1890’s – 1920’s: Frederick Taylor, Frank & Lillian Gilbreth: studied selection, training, work-rest schedules, time & motion studies of industrial workers 1940’s (World War II): Experimental psychologists in USAAF studied human performance issues (characteristics of successful pilots, the effects of environmental stressors), also basics of anthropometry 1940’s & 50’s (post-WWII) USAF: Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories, Wright-Patterson 5 AFB; Air Force Personnel and Training Research Center US Army Human Engineering Laboratory Johns Hopkins Systems Research Field Laboratory U of Illinois Aviation Psychology Laboratory Ohio State U Laboratory of Aviation Psychology History of HFE 1949: assembly of human performance specialists in Oxford, England to discuss the science Anatomists, physiologists, psychologists, industrial medical officers, industrial hygienists, design engineers, work study engineers, architects, illuminating engineers, etc. Coined the term “Ergonomics” ergos: Greek for “work” nomos: “natural laws” Formed the Ergonomics Research Society Now known as the UK’s Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors 1957: Human Factors (and Ergonomics, 1992) Society founded in U.S. 6 History of HFE 1960’s: Aerospace Industries and the NASA Apollo Program 1970’s: National Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH; CDC division for workplace-related illness and injury) 1979: Three Mile Island disaster 1988: Persian Gulf accident 7 Persian Gulf accident 1988, Gulf War U.S.S. Vincennes on patrol in Persian Gulf Difficult to tell if approaching aircraft – an Iranian passenger jet – is climbing or descending, communication breakdowns Under time pressure, stress due to threat of attack, jet is identified as a hostile approaching fighter and shot down Investigation led to US Navy research program on human factors in decision making under stress TADMUS: TActical Decision-Making Under Stress 8 History of HFE 2000: “To Err is Human”, Institute of Medicine Preventable medical errors account for 98,000 deaths annually in United States More than motor vehicle accidents (43K), breast cancer (42K) Equivalent to 1.5 jumbo jet crashes every day (chances of dying in a commercial aircraft accident: 1 in 45 million) (chances of dying in a motor vehicle crash: ~1 in 8000) (chances of dying unnecessarily due to medical error: ~1 in 3500) 9 History of HFE Expanded areas of application with the introduction of new technologies: Computer hardware (1960’s) Computer software (1970’s) Nuclear power plants & weapons systems (1980’s) Internet and automation (1990’s) Adaptive technology (2000’s) Mobile/wearable tech (2010’s) 10 Professional Societies (U.S.) Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ~5000 members (world’s largest), primarily U.S. members http://www.hfes.org International Ergonomics Association Federation of world’s ergonomic societies http://www.iea.cc IIE Global Organization of Ergonomics http://www.iienet2.org/GoErgo/ 11 HFES technical groups Aerospace Systems Augmented Cognition Cognitive Engineering and 12 Decision Making Communications Computer Systems Education Environmental Design Forensics Health Care Human Performance Modeling Individual Differences in Performance Industrial Ergonomics Internet Macroergonomics Perception and Performance Product Design Safety Surface Transportation System Development Test and Evaluation Training Virtual Environments http://www.hfes.org/web/TechnicalGroups/ descriptions.html HF/E: Three domains of specialization Cognitive factors Physical factors Social factors 13 HF/E: Three domains of specialization Cognitive factors “Human Factors” Perception Attention Memory Decision making Problem solving Learning Design of workspaces, tools, displays, controls, documentation to accommodate the cognitive strengths, limitations, tendencies and preferences of humans 14 HF/E: Three domains of specialization Physical factors “Ergonomics” Anthropometry Biomechanics Injury risks Metabolic processes in performing physical work Design of workspaces/tools to accommodate sizes, shapes, work-producing abilities of humans 15 HF/E: Three domains of specialization Social factors “Macroergonomics” Social interactions among groups of people Workers, management, patients, family members Communication Group and team dynamics Cultural influences Design of workspaces/technologies to support and mediate social interactions 16 Goals of HFE Support human interaction with systems that: Enhances performance (greater productivity, fewer errors) Increases safety (less risk of accident, disease) Which also means greater productivity (less lost time at work) Increases user satisfaction Increased worker productivity Increased product sales, decreased customer support costs 17 Operators Design to support humans Maintainers Users/ Consumers 18 HFE Design Equipment design: Change the physical nature of the equipment humans interact with 19 HFE Design Task design: change what operators do (e.g., redesign the workstation to eliminate manual lifting) Environmental design: e.g., improved lighting, air temperature and quality, reduced noise in the work environment. Can also extend to organizational climate (e.g., management structure, social culture) Selection: recognizing individual differences (both cognitive and physical) and choosing those who are naturally best-suited for the work Training: better preparing workers (mentally and physically) for 20 the conditions they will encounter as part of the work HFE Design Cycle 21 Benefits of proactive design Considerable savings of both money and human suffering… Cost to an organization of incorporating human factors in design (Alexander, 2002): 2% of total product cost when addressed at earliest design stages (and incidents/accidents are prevented) 5-20% when HF addressed in response to incidents/accidents 22 Design example: doors 23 Human factors in door design Considerations: 24 Affordances: design features that communicate function 25 Human error vs. Design-induced error Fundamental premise: the human operator is doing the best he or she can under the constraints of…. Workplace and tool design His/her training, capabilities, state of health, personal circumstances Physical and social environment Workload (physical and mental) If errors/adverse events occur we BEGIN with “human error”, NOT end… 26