Human Factors Questionnaire measurement of engineer decision frequency

Abstract

The University of Virginia Center for Rail Safety-Critical Excellence (CRSCE) has developed a questionnaire for measuring railroad engineers’ beliefs regarding the frequency of unusual action decisions based upon scenarios encountered during a daily work schedule. The questionnaire is designed to collect responses via a secure web-based interface. Scenarios describe railroad conditions such as work zones, temporary speed restricted zones, control point signal aspects, and emergency braking. Engineers are given the correct response according to rulebook regulations. Given these conditions, engineers are asked to rate the frequency of unusual action decisions of a hypothetical crew, based upon performance-shaping factors of fatigue, broad and specific experience, training, and attention. Engineers respond to categories of Never, Once in 50 years, Once in 20 years, Once in 5 years, Once in a year, Once in a month, or Regularly. Psychometric analyses include the estimation of probabilities of an action, given the scenario conditions and behavioural shaping factors. Item characteristics relating scenario-action rarity, and engineer response characteristics related to background experience, training, and work satisfaction are specified in the study design. Results will indicate the relative importance of work conditions and performance conditions towards predicting unusual action frequency so that railroad transportation safety and human decision-making is better understood.