Incorporating Social and Organisational Factors into Defence Human Factors Integration

Abstract

To support consideration of social and organisational issues within the UK defence acquisition Human Factors Integration (HFI) process, definitions and associated guidance have been created. The social and organisational domain in HFI is a relatively recent addition to the existing core domains of manpower, personnel, training, human factors engineering, health hazards and system safety. The methodology used to identify relevant factors included a scoping study, involving stakeholder consultations and a targeted literature review. The factors identified were formed into a framework comprising three high level sub-domains (Organisational Configuration, Social Environment and Ways of Working) and a suite of guidance materials appropriate for a range of stakeholders. Following identification of the factors and development of guidance a pilot workshop was conducted to assess the suitability of the information and the generic process within the acquisition process. The incorporation of social and organisational factors into the wider HFI process will ensure more effective and efficient equipment and service procurement by government acquisition organisations and more competitive equipment and services created by industry suppliers.