Human Factors Knowledge Research Articles

A summative user evaluation of connected thermostats

Thermostats are the nexus of human comfort within buildings. However, the building industry has prioritized a “product-centered” approach over a “human-centered” approach when developing thermostats. As technology advances, we have seen a proliferation of connected thermostats developed to provide a more convenient way to manage thermal comfort. However, if connected thermostats are not designed based on user needs, their benefits will not be fully realized. To understand how connected thermostats meet or do not meet user needs, this summative evaluation study employed text-mining of 130,237 user reviews from Amazon (n = 35,275), and Apple App Store (n = 94,962) to systematically evaluate users' perception of 52 connected thermostats and their 37 associated iOS apps using a grounded theory approach. The analysis revealed emergent themes from Amazon reviews, including “usability,” “functionality,” “user support,” “connection and compatibility” “overall impression,” and “cost and value”. Similarly, Apple App Store reviews highlighted the themes “usability,” “functionality,” “update and maintenance,” “reliability and performance,” “overall impression,” and “user support” in order of their importance. Usability emerged as the most frequent and important theme in both Amazon and Apple App Store reviews, highlighting the role of human-technology interactions. While users extensively discussed concepts like “ease” and “comfort,” “energy” was not as prominently featured. In addition, the analysis found that “usage data privacy” was a significant concern for users. This study's approach can be employed to enhance human factors knowledge in connected building interface design, and this methodological approach could be an effective supplement for other human-building product evaluations.

Human Factors and New Nuclear: Advancements and Future Possibilities

After years of stagnation, interest in the development and construction of new nuclear power facilities is accelerating. Some of the proposed designs, such as small modular reactors and microreactors, are significantly different from the plants currently in operation. Therefore, much of the nuclear human factors knowledge acquired over the last 40 years may not be easily transferrable to these plants. At the same time, other kinds of human factors research, such as work on high-levels of automation and remote operation, become increasingly relevant. This panel aims to provide guidance for human factors practitioners in this shifting landscape by gathering experts with backgrounds in research, regulation, and operations.

Human factors in developing automated vehicles: A requirements engineering perspective

Automated Vehicle (AV) technology has evolved significantly both in complexity and impact and is expected to ultimately change urban transportation. Due to this evolution, the development of AVs challenges the current state of automotive engineering practice, as automotive companies increasingly include agile ways of working in their plan-driven systems engineering—or even transition completely to scaled-agile approaches. However, it is unclear how knowledge about human factors (HF) and technological knowledge related to the development of AVs can be brought together in a way that effectively supports today’s rapid release cycles and agile development approaches. Based on semi-structured interviews with ten experts from industry and two experts from academia, this qualitative, exploratory case study investigates the relationship between HF and AV development. The study reveals relevant properties of agile system development and HF, as well as the implications of these properties for integrating agile work, HF, and requirements engineering. According to the findings, which were evaluated in a workshop with experts from academia and industry, a culture that values HF knowledge in engineering is key. These results promise to improve the integration of HF knowledge into agile development as well as to facilitate HF research impact and time to market.

GAMBARAN PENGETAHUAN HIGIENE DAN SANITASI PENJAMAH MAKANAN DI PONDOK PESANTREN

Large-scale food processing in Islamic boarding schools has the potential to be carried out unhygienically and can cause disease. So it is important to know the hygiene knowledge of food handlers in Islamic boarding schools. This research aimed to describe the hygiene and sanitation knowledge of food handlers at the Darul Fallah Agricultural Islamic Boarding School. The research was conducted in February 2023 using interview guides, observation guides, field notebooks and cameras. Primary data was obtained through a questionnaire interview with 15 questions. Data analysis was done based on the scoring system and data presentation was done in the form of data tabulation.The Darul Fallah Bogor Islamic Boarding School manages the provision of food independently, including purchasing, cleaning, storing, processing, maintaining kitchen cleanliness and serving. Food is served buffet style, and leftovers are taken home. The interviews showed that three respondents knew about diseases transmitted through food, while one respondent only knew about diarrhea. In conclusion, school hygiene and sanitation knowledge is generally sufficient, with little knowledge of human and food factors. The food handlers at the Darul Fallah Agricultural Islamic Boarding School have sufficient knowledge of hygiene and sanitation, including clean uniforms, clean hair, nails, hands, and the prohibition of smoking. However, they lack knowledge about food and place factors, such as proper serving and storage temperatures as well as kitchen and canteen facilities.

Implementing human factors in anaesthesia: guidance for clinicians, departments and hospitals: Guidelines from the Difficult Airway Society and the Association of Anaesthetists: Guidelines from the Difficult Airway Society and the Association of Anaesthetists.

Human factors is an evidence-based scientific discipline used in safety critical industries to improve safety and worker well-being. The implementation of human factors strategies in anaesthesia has the potential to reduce the reliance on exceptional personal and team performance to provide safe and high-quality patient care. To encourage the adoption of human factors science in anaesthesia, the Difficult Airway Society and the Association of Anaesthetists established a Working Party, including anaesthetists and operating theatre team members with human factors expertise and/or interest, plus a human factors scientist, an industrial psychologist and an experimental psychologist/implementation scientist. A three-stage Delphi process was used to formulate a set of 12 recommendations: these are described using a 'hierarchy of controls' model and classified into design, barriers, mitigations and education and training strategies. Although most anaesthetic knowledge of human factors concerns non-technical skills, such as teamwork and communication, human factors is a broad-based scientific discipline with many other additional aspects that are just as important. Indeed, the human factors strategies most likely to have the greatest impact are those related to the design of safe working environments, equipment and systems. While our recommendations are primarily provided for anaesthetists and the teams they work with, there are likely to be lessons for others working in healthcare beyond the speciality of anaesthesia.

From must to mindset: Outcomes of human factor practices in aviation and railway companies

Human Factors (HF) aims to improve system performance, safety, and well-being. However, to promote their application more widely in the future, more evidence is needed of the outcomes of HF practices. We studied HF outcomes between 2000 and 2019 in two aviation companies and one railway company via interviews (n = 21), observations and work-focused discussions (n = 13), and 11 organizational indicators. We evaluated the manifestations of HF practices at varying organizational levels. The HF outcomes were both explicitly and implicitly evident. At the most comprehensive level, the outcomes were reflected as an HF mindset, knowhow, and practical safety- and work- related applications. The shorter the time that the HF practices had been in use in an organization, the more the employees saw HF as practices of individuals. Conversely, the companies that had been using HF practices for a longer period exhibited a more systematic and comprehensive insight, i.e., HF practices were evident in work processes, were considered to affect well-being and involved group and organizational factors. HF knowledge and integration differed on the management, supervisor/expert and operational levels, indicating a need to implement HF practices more tangibly when planning and organizing work. This poses challenges for management, especially when an HF- informed, pragmatic approach to safety needs to be developed. The evaluation of HF practices clearly needed improvement in all the companies. The outcomes of the HF practices had not been monitored particularly closely, systematically or in the long term. However, the potential HF indicator data had increased in all the companies during the past years. We emphasize that the content and aims of HF for different tasks and organizational levels need to be concretely defined. HF practices must be applied systemically and systematically, in a participative and solution-based manner.

The Education of Medical Students in Human Factors – A National Survey.

Introduction: The importance of human factors (HF) has been highlighted recently by the General Medical Council’s decision to include it in their processes for evaluating fitness to practice. Medical school is a vital stage for embedding concepts into medical practice, but little is known regarding the rigor and extent to which HF is taught across UK medical schools. Methods: An 8-question survey was designed and disseminated nationally using the Qualtrics platform. Respondents were asked for their existing knowledge and perception of HF, education throughout medical school, and relevant demographic factors. Results: The survey was completed by 304 medical students from 12 UK medical schools. 45.7% of respondents had never heard of HF as a concept. 96.9% of respondents deemed the concept of HF as very important to medicine and future clinical practice. Simulated scenarios, one-to-one and small group teaching emerged as the most effective teaching methods, whilst many students agreed this teaching should take place in the early stages of medical education. Communication and teamwork were perceived to be the most important aspects of HF. Conclusion: Findings reveal a lack of awareness regarding human factors (HF) among UK medical students. New strategies are needed to ensure the doctors of tomorrow are equipped with the necessary tools to implement and deliver safer, more effective patient care.

Prehospital emergency anaesthesia: an introductory guide for paramedics

Prehospital emergency anaesthesia (PHEA) is indicated in a relatively small number of patients. It is a complex procedure that requires an in-depth knowledge of airway management, physiology, pharmacology and human factors and should only be performed judiciously by a competent team. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the process of PHEA and to describe its indications, practical aspects and potential complications.

125 Introducing An <i>in situ</i> Simulation Programme in an Intensive Care Unit

This North London hospital has a 14-bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU). As a small District General ICU, staff exposure to emergency scenarios can be infrequent. Lack of practice can lead to a reduction in staff confidence and knowledge when these scenarios are encountered, especially during the COVID pandemic. The ICU had not previously undertaken The aim of the study was to introduce a novel programme of MDT simulation sessions in the ICU and provide feedback with the aim of increasing both staff confidence in managing emergency scenarios and staff understanding of the impact of human factors.A team of ICU Simulation Champions created emergency scenarios that could occur in the ICU. Pre-simulation and post-simulation questionnaires were produced to capture staff opinion on topics including benefits and barriers to simulation training and confidence in managing ICU emergencies. Members of the ICU MDT would be selected to participate in simulation scenarios. Afterwards, debrief sessions would be facilitated by Simulation Champions and Airline Pilots with a particular focus on competence in managing the emergency and human factors elements, such as communication and leadership. Participants would then be surveyed with the post-simulation questionnaire.Nine simulation sessions were conducted between October 2020 and June 2021. The sessions occurred within the ICU during the working day in a designated bay with the availability of all standard ICU resources and involved multiple MDT members to aid fidelity. Feedback by Simulation Champions mainly focussed on knowledge related to the ICU emergency, whilst the Airline Pilots provided expert feedback on human factors training. Fifty-five staff members completed the pre-simulation questionnaire and 37 simulation participants completed the post-simulation questionnaire. Prior to simulation participation, 28.3% of respondents agreed they felt confident managing emergency scenarios on ICU – this figure increased to 54.1% following simulation participation. 94.4% of simulation participants agreed that their knowledge of human factors had improved following the simulation and 100% of participants wanted further simulation teaching. Figure 1 shows a thematic analysis of the responses from 31 participants who were questioned about perceived benefits from simulation teaching. Following the success of the programme, the Hospital Trust will continue to support and develop inter-speciality and inter-professional training, and have funded the appointment of an ICU Simulation Fellow to continue to lead and enhance future

Online safety awareness and human factors: An application of the theory of human ecology

Efforts have been made on large and small scales to reduce cybersecurity threats around the world, including in Malaysia. However, scholars have argued that, in spite of the technological preparations countries can take to shield themselves from attack, human factors may be the key reason behind increasing breaches in cybersafety in recent years. In this review, developed in a social sciences context, we argue that intra- and interpersonal human factors, such as biological, psychological, and cultural factors, must be considered holistically to effectively increase awareness of the importance of online safety. We also argue that these personal and psychological factors can be framed using Urie Bronfenbrenner's theory of human ecology, which, along with previous studies, points to the importance of examining the various layers of environmental factors that affect human behavior. Lastly, this paper also considers what types of education and training can effectively utilize the knowledge of human factors to increase online safety awareness.

Generational and occupational differences in human factors knowledge and awareness: a comparison study

IntroductionIncreasing healthcare sector litigation, accountability and governance has resulted in the identification of human factors (HF) as a common source of error. Both NHS and military doctors must have awareness...

Learning and Learning-to-Learn by Doing: An Experiential Learning Approach for Integrating Human Factors into Maritime Design Education

There is a growing awareness in the marine industry that human factors need to be considered in ship design if seafarers are to operate ships and systems safely and effectively. However, according to literature, the ship design practice today does not show explicit consideration of the end-users. This is mostly due to the ship designers’ lack of awareness and understanding about Maritime Human Factors (HF), Human Centred Design (HCD), and the operational issues that ships’ crew are facing during their sea time. This lack of knowledge can be traced back to the current educational system, which does not provide knowledge on HF, HCD approach, and maritime HF issues.
 
 The authors conducted this study aiming to integrate HF and HCD knowledge into maritime design students’ educational platform and to motivate them to utilise this knowledge in their designs. Naval architecture students at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) were the participants of this study. Firstly, a classroom survey was conducted to determine the students current level of awareness and understanding of maritime HF and HCD. Then, an onboard survey was conducted after five HF-related activities during a seven-day voyage onboard MV Bluefin, which is the research vessel of AMC. The onboard activities provided the students with an opportunity for experiencing experiential learning including all its key elements based on Kolb’s experiential learning model.
 
 The findings demonstrate how students’ onboard experiences influence their learning process by doing, discovering, reflecting, and applying. Students’ understanding of HF issues and the importance of the HCD approach was influenced during the onboard activities. They learned HF theoretical knowledge as an essential addition to their undergraduate curriculum. The results further highlight the experiential learning as a “paradigm of noteworthy learning” that supports multiple learning objectives for learners, including shaping their knowledge through experience.

Disaster Ergonomics: Human Factors in COVID-19 Pandemic Emergency Management.

We aimed to identify opportunities for application of human factors knowledge base to mitigate disaster management (DM) challenges associated with the unique characteristics of the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of DM is to minimize and prevent further spread of the contagion over an extended period of time. This requires addressing large-scale logistics, coordination, and specialized training needs. However, DM-related challenges during the pandemic response and recovery are significantly different than with other kinds of disasters. An expert review was conducted to document issues relevant to human factors and ergonomics (HFE) in DM. The response to the COVID-19 crisis has presented complex and unique challenges to DM and public health practitioners. Compared to other disasters and previous pandemics, the COVID-19 outbreak has had an unprecedented scale, magnitude, and propagation rate. The high technical complexity of response and DM coupled with lack of mental model and expertise to respond to such a unique disaster has seriously challenged the response work systems. Recent research has investigated the role of HFE in modeling DM systems' characteristics to improve resilience, accelerating emergency management expertise, developing agile training methods to facilitate dynamically changing response, improving communication and coordination among system elements, mitigating occupational hazards including guidelines for the design of personal protective equipment, and improving procedures to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of response efforts. This short review highlights the potential for the field's contribution to proactive and resilient DM for the ongoing and future pandemics.

An action research and scaffolding based approach for maritime design education: a contribution towards shaping ships for people

ABSTRACT This paper presents the results of a research study conducted aiming to educate maritime design students with maritime Human Factors (HF) and Human-Centred Design (HCD) theoretical concepts and to motivate them to utilise that knowledge in the design process. The final year maritime design students at the Australian Maritime College were facilitated throughout a year of a planned HCD scaffolding program based on a pedagogical framework. Action Research was used as the methodological framework, which is considered appropriate for studying the effectiveness of a teaching intervention. The overall effect of the program was determined through records maintained in the researcher’s journal, response from a questionnaire, an interview, and from the results of a design project report review. The findings demonstrated that the contribution of such a program raised awareness and understanding of HCD and maritime HF among the students. Also, the findings of this paper highlighted the fact that the fresh mind of a maritime design undergraduate is the best state to integrate HF and HCD knowledge which provides enduring benefits for the industry and for shaping ships for people. Besides, possible improvements for future delivery of this program were also identified.

What does a good prescribing induction for the newly qualified doctor look like?

Foundation year 1 doctors (F1s) are expected to prescribe from their first day in clinical practice. Prescribing involves a complex series of steps involving integration of theoretical and experiential knowledge, patient information, communication skills, mathematics and awareness of human factors that undermine safe prescribing. It has been suggested that prescribing should routinely be viewed and treated as a high-risk procedural skill. The majority of prescriptions within secondary care are written by foundation doctors (FDs).1,2 FDs also make the most prescribing errors.2,3 An important part of the transition to prescriber is F1 induction. Since 2012, trusts and health boards must provide an induction and at least …

The Future of Cybercrime Prevention Strategies: Human Factors and A Holistic Approach to Cyber Intelligence

New technology is rapidly emerging to fight increasing cybercrime threats, however, there is one important component of a cybercrime that technology cannot always impact and that is human behavior. Unfortunately, humans can be vulnerable and easily deceived making technological advances alone inadequate in the cybercrime fight. Instead, we must take a more holistic approach by using technology and better understanding the human factors that make cybercrime possible. In this issue of the International Journal of Cybersecurity Intelligence and Cybercrime, three studies contribute to our knowledge of human factors and emerging cybercrime technology so that more effective comprehensive cybercrime prevention strategies can be developed.

How to keep drivers engaged while supervising driving automation? A literature survey and categorisation of six solution areas

This work aimed to organise recommendations for keeping people engaged during human supervision of driving automation, encouraging a safe and acceptable introduction of automated driving systems. First, heuristic knowledge of human factors, ergonomics, and psychological theory was used to propose solution areas to human supervisory control problems of sustained attention. Driving and non-driving research examples were drawn to substantiate the solution areas. Automotive manufacturers might (1) avoid this supervisory role altogether, (2) reduce it in objective ways or (3) alter its subjective experiences, (4) utilize conditioning learning principles such as with gamification and/or selection/training techniques, (5) support internal driver cognitive processes and mental models and/or (6) leverage externally situated information regarding relations between the driver, the driving task, and the driving environment. Second, a cross-domain literature survey of influential human-automation interaction research was conducted for how to keep engagement/attention in supervisory control. The solution areas (via numeric theme codes) were found to be reliably applied from independent rater categorisations of research recommendations. Areas (5) and (6) were addressed by around 70% or more of the studies, areas (2) and (4) in around 50% of the studies, and areas (3) and (1) in less than around 20% and 5%, respectively. The present contribution offers a guiding organisational framework towards improving human attention while supervising driving automation.

Eye tracking as a debriefing tool in upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) for general aviation pilots

Upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT) is intended to improve the ability of pilots to recognize and avoid situations that can lead to airplane upsets and to improve their ability to recover control of an airplane that has exceeded the normal flight envelope. To this end, a set of different training contents – from theoretical knowledge of aerodynamics and human factors to practice-based flight training – is necessary. In order to support the debriefing with an objective feedback, and because visual scanning is a core competence, two studies on subjective evaluation of aviation pilots – one conducted in a flight simulator and the other one in-flight – focussed on the practical application of eye tracking as a debriefing tool in UPRT. From a practitioner’s perspective, eye tracking appeared to be a useful method in terms of visualising instrument scanning techniques, supporting the instructor with objective debriefing material and fostering self-awareness in human processes. The discussion recommends adjusted UPRT instructor training and further improvements to eye tracking hardware and software.Practitioner Summary: The article focuses on pilot evaluations of eye tracking as a debriefing tool in UPRT and the identification of critical elements in its use. Eye tracking is a promising debriefing tool for UPRT. The discussion points to desirable improvements of eye tracking hardware and software as well as adjustments to instructor training that are pertinent.

A Framework of Integrating Knowledge of Human Factors to Facilitate HMI and Collaboration in Intelligent Manufacturing

Recent developments in the field of intelligent manufacturing have led to increased levels of automation and robotic operators becoming commonplace within manufacturing processes. However, the human component of such systems remains prevalent, resulting in significant disturbance and uncertainty. Consequently, semi-automated processes are difficult to optimise.This paper studies the relationships between robotic and human operators to develop the understanding of how the human influence affects these production processes, and proposes a framework to integrate and implement knowledge of such factors, with the aim of improving Human-Machine-Interaction, facilitating bi-directional collaboration, and increasing productivity and quality, supported by an example case-study.

Are We There Yet? Human Factors Knowledge and Health Information Technology – the Challenges of Implementation and Impact

Summary Objective: To review the developments in human factors (HF) research on the challenges of health information technology (HIT) implementation and impact given the continuing incidence of usability problems and unintended consequences from HIT development and use. Methods: A search of PubMed/Medline and Web of Science® identified HF research published in 2015 and 2016. Electronic health records (EHRs) and patient-centred HIT emerged as significant foci of recent HF research. The authors selected prominent papers highlighting ongoing HF and usability challenges in these areas. This selective rather than systematic review of recent HF research highlights these key challenges and reflects on their implications on the future impact of HF research on HIT. Results: Research provides evidence of continued poor design, implementation, and usability of HIT, as well as technology-induced errors and unintended consequences. The paper highlights support for: (i) strengthening the evidence base on the benefits of HF approaches; (ii) improving knowledge translation in the implementation of HF approaches during HIT design, implementation, and evaluation; (iii) increasing transparency, governance, and enforcement of HF best practices at all stages of the HIT system development life cycle. Discussion and Conclusion: HF and usability approaches are yet to become embedded as integral components of HIT development, implementation, and impact assessment. As HIT becomes ever-more pervasive including with patients as end-users, there is a need to expand our conceptualisation of the problems to be addressed and the suite of tactics and strategies to be used to calibrate our pro-active involvement in its improvement.