Human Factors – What are they, and what do I do with them?

Performance-Shaping Factors Series

NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

When I started Beville in 1984 with my degree in Human Factors Engineering, the field was unknown in the process industry. We did our first couple of projects for free to demonstrate the value of the discipline. We offered one and two-day seminars to educate on the basics.

Now, even though human factors terminology is bantered about in conferences and even in standards, I find myself cringing during many presentations where I'm told by individuals with little formal training what human factors are all about. Or worse, being told a bad design is the result of a human factors study, one which the designer hadn’t read and/or couldn’t explain. For example, I was looking at a graphic with white text on a grey background that was completely illegible. I commented, “Shouldn’t the operators be able to read the display?” and was told that this was the product of good human factors. Really!? Does that make sense!?

Therefore, this will be the first in a series of newsletters covering the basics of human factors engineering. My hope is that at the end, you will—

• Have an appreciation for what is a multi-disciplinary field that covers myriad aspects of plant operation and performance,
• Be able to distinguish between sound principles and human factors snake oil designed to sell a product, and
• Understand where you can leverage human factors to reduce the potential for human error and improve operator performance to increase the safety, environmental compliance, and performance of your plant.

In the human factors’ community, we talk more about performance-shaping factors than human factors. I assume because it is more descriptive and highlights their impact. These are the variables whose characteristics affect human performance, for good or bad.

There are various taxonomies of performance-shaping factors. (The HF community likes taxonomies.) The one I’m going to share with you I chose (created) because it fits nicely into the figure below. Performance-shaping factors (PSF) interact with each other. Think of this as pressure/temperature relationships in metallurgy or steam production. While you may consider a PSF in isolation, you need to be aware that it is affecting and affected by other PSFs.

This series of newsletters will address each of these PSFs in more detail: What they are, what issues exist, and how can they be optimized. A quick look at these issues—

• Automation - What is the impact of increasing automation? Yes, it can offload the operators, but it adds complexity.
• Organization - This is not so much about cross-functional teams of self-directed work groups, but how information flows through the organization.
• Staffing - A particular area of Beville’s expertise for which one client said the operators think it’s witchcraft. (It isn’t, and we have data that argues otherwise.)
• System Demands - What inputs by the person are needed to enable the system to function?
• Interface - The means by which the operator receives information and carries out actions.
• Job Design - How the job itself has been constructed; the tasks that need to be performed.
• Job Requirements - Are there any qualifications for who will perform the job?
• Training - Imparting the necessary skills and knowledge to successfully perform essential tasks.

If you have questions or something you would like to ensure I address, just let me know.

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