Human Factors and Design

Description

This book describes various manifestations of human factors when interacting with potentially dangerous technical systems: airplanes, launch vehicles and spaceships, nuclear power plants, energy-saturated ground vehicles and infrastructure facilities. The idea of the book arose from the desire to find a common ground between industries that are important for safety. Their similarity lies, in addition to the technological advancement of products and solutions, in equally high safety requirements, in particular taking into account the influence of human factor. Thus, it is of relevance to analyze an impact of human factor in the context of safety. The matter is rather complex: on the one hand humans manage technical systems, on the other hand human errors, negligence or evil intentions can turn the system into a threat with disastrous consequences. However, human interaction with any technical system begins earlier – in the design stage. In this stage, designer, being creator of the system, must ensure a safe operation and take into consideration possible risks, including those caused by human factors itself. The book is interdisciplinary in nature and intended mainly for designers of technical systems, aiming to assist the specialists in understanding the issues of human participation in life cycle of these systems. The examples given are intended to benefit from experiences of not one, but a number of industries. Preface Summary Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 History and Definitions of Human Factors 1.2 Negative and Positive Aspects of Human Factors 1.3 The Main Questions Answered by the Book, Its Plan and Intended Readers 2 Existing Approaches to Human Factors in Technology 2.1 Human Roles in Interaction with Technical Systems 2.2 Personnel 2.2.1 Characteristics of Human Operator 2.2.2 Regulation in Relation to Personnel Performance 2.2.3 Rescue in Emergency Situations 2.2.4 Applicable Models 2.2.5 Personnel Management for Safety Purposes 2.3 The Public 2.3.1 The Public as a “Passive” Object of Management 2.3.2 Active Subjects 2.4 Vehicle Occupants in Crashes 2.4.1 Features of Crash Processes 2.4.2 Ensuring Survival in the US Military Aviation 2.4.3 The Soviet and Russian Research and Development 2.4.4 FAA and NASA Approaches to Aircraft Crashworthiness 2.4.5 Other Safety Studies in Aircraft Crashes 2.4.6 Car Accidents 2.4.7 Rail Vehicle Crashes 2.5 People Under Conditions of Malicious Actions 2.5.1 Protection Against Malicious Actions 2.5.2 Early Detection of Violators 2.5.3 Prevention of Victims 3 Approaches to Human Factors from the Standpoint of Designer 3.1 The Role of Designer 3.1.1 Specificity of the Role 3.1.2 The Conception of Design 3.1.3 Components of the Role 3.1.4 Issues of Design Activities 3.2 Evaluation of Existing Approaches to Human Factors 3.2.1 The Standpoint of Designer 3.2.2 Coverage of Human–Machine Interaction and Systematization of Approaches 3.2.3 Regulation 3.2.4 Design and Construction Solutions 3.2.5 Information and Mathematical Models 3.2.6 Experimental Data 3.2.7 Generalized Evaluation, also Taking into Account More Tighten Safety Requirements 3.3 Design Activity Management in the Human Dimension 3.3.1 Levels of Management 3.3.2 Licensing 3.3.3 Management at the Organization Level 4 Changes in Design Due to Development of Views on Safe Human–Machine Interaction 4.1 Need for Changes 4.1.1 Development of Views on Safety 4.1.2 Gaps in Accounting for Human–Machine Interaction 4.1.3 Challenges for Design Activity Management 4.2 Possible Changes in the Design Paradigm and Principles 4.2.1 The Design Objective Function 4.2.2 In-Service Recognition and Control of Critical Situations 4.2.3 Ensuring Survival in Accidents 4.2.4 Minimization of Human Involvement in the Operation of Technical Systems 4.3 Managing Uncertainty and Complexity in Design Activities 4.3.1 Accounting for Rare Adverse Events 4.3.2 Controlling the Complexity of Mathematical Modeling 5 Human Interaction with Long-Lived Technical Systems 5.1 Long Life Cycle Issues 5.1.1 Aging 5.1.2 Obsolescence 5.1.3 Loss of Design Knowledge 5.2 Sociotechnical Systems 5.2.1 General Description 5.2.2 Changes in Social Values 5.2.3 Increase of Information Noise 5.2.4 Development of Artificial Intelligence 5.2.5 Technical Policy Conclusion Bibliography