‘Human Factors’ is the discipline that applies knowledge of human capabilities and limitations to the design, operation and maintenance of technological systems. It draws from established disciplines such as psychology, ergonomics, physiology and engineering. By applying human factors knowledge about people at work to the functional relationships between people, tasks, technologies and the working environment it is possible to:
• Eliminate, reduce or mitigate the potential for human failure or error;
• Limit the consequences of human failure;
• Increase the margin for safety;
• Improve HSE performance;
• Improve human reliability, efficiency and effectiveness;
• Improve user acceptance of new plant or facilities
• Reduce CAPEX costs by contributing to more efficient design and reducing the risk for late changes or re-work during or after construction; and
• Reduce OPEX costs by contributing to more efficient or appropriate designs leading to improvements in operability and maintainability of the new assets.
Human Factors Integration (HFI) is a systematic process for identifying, tracking, and resolving human related issues ensuring a balanced development of both technologies and human aspects of capability.
The purpose of Human Factors Integration (HFI) is to ensure that:
• The human role in the system is defined to optimise human performance in relation to the core system architecture and ancillary equipment;
• Adequate human-equipment analyses and trade-off studies are performed;
• Training characteristics (materials, environment, evaluation criteria, etc.) for system personnel are identified;
• System testing and evaluation is conducted to verify that users can safely and effectively operate, maintain and support equipment in its intended environment; and
• The design meets agreed operational performance standards and relevant HF standards (International and National).
The HFI approach applies the following principles:
• The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and their environments;
• Users are involved throughout design and development;
• The design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation;
• The process is iterative;
• The design addresses the whole user experience; and
• The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives.
