MAP-01-011 HFI Technical Guide - Human Factors Integration ...

MAP-01-011 – HFI Technical Guide (STGP 11)use when ensuring that equipment is operable, workspace environment issafe and emergency systems operate effectively.HFI Technical IssuesThe HFI contribution to Safety Assessment also overlaps with the process of‘Identifying and Managing HFI Issues and Risk’ described in MAP-01-010 [Ref 1]and with the overall process of Risk Management. Note that Risk Managementis defined by Def-Stan 00-56 ‘Safety Management Requirements for DefenceSystems’ [Ref 37] as ‘the systematic application of management policies,procedures and practices to the tasks of Hazard Identification, Hazard Analysis,Risk Estimation, Risk and ALARP Evaluation, Risk Reduction and RiskAcceptance’.17.1.14 Human Reliability and Equipment DesignHuman error may contribute to safety risks and may arise because of mistakes inthe interpretation of a situation or the status of equipment. Human error may alsoarise when a user or maintainer executes the wrong action, or fails to carry out arequired action, even though the understanding of the situation or equipmentstatus is correct. Human error and reliability analysis techniques are used tosystematically identify and quantify the types of human error.A variety of design methods are available to counteract or reduce the effects ofdifferent types of human error – these include the use of alarms and warnings;consistent display and control design; the effective use of layout and colour whendesigning critical screens; the use of confirmation dialogues for actions withirreversible effects; the design of equipment so that it can be used easily bypersonnel differing in size and strength. User interface prototyping and the useof synthetic user models of the workspace provide powerful methods forestimating the likelihood of errors and the effectiveness of design solutions.To ensure that design solutions are appropriate it is important to identify theprobability and severity of safety risks when human performance, equipmentoperation or malfunction, environmental conditions and operational scenarios arecombined. Event trees and fault trees, in combination with timelines for eachuser role, provide methods for identifying safety risks arising from a combinationof factors.Nov 2006 Page 17-12 Issue 4