• Title/Summary/Keyword: Human factors engineering

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Human Error Probability Assessment During Maintenance Activities of Marine Systems

  • Islam, Rabiul;Khan, Faisal;Abbassi, Rouzbeh;Garaniya, Vikram
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.42-52
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    • 2018
  • Background: Maintenance operations on-board ships are highly demanding. Maintenance operations are intensive activities requiring high man-machine interactions in challenging and evolving conditions. The evolving conditions are weather conditions, workplace temperature, ship motion, noise and vibration, and workload and stress. For example, extreme weather condition affects seafarers' performance, increasing the chances of error, and, consequently, can cause injuries or fatalities to personnel. An effective human error probability model is required to better manage maintenance on-board ships. The developed model would assist in developing and maintaining effective risk management protocols. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop a human error probability model considering various internal and external factors affecting seafarers' performance. Methods: The human error probability model is developed using probability theory applied to Bayesian network. The model is tested using the data received through the developed questionnaire survey of >200 experienced seafarers with >5 years of experience. The model developed in this study is used to find out the reliability of human performance on particular maintenance activities. Results: The developed methodology is tested on the maintenance of marine engine's cooling water pump for engine department and anchor windlass for deck department. In the considered case studies, human error probabilities are estimated in various scenarios and the results are compared between the scenarios and the different seafarer categories. The results of the case studies for both departments are also compared. Conclusion: The developed model is effective in assessing human error probabilities. These probabilities would get dynamically updated as and when new information is available on changes in either internal (i.e., training, experience, and fatigue) or external (i.e., environmental and operational conditions such as weather conditions, workplace temperature, ship motion, noise and vibration, and workload and stress) factors.

Short-Term Human Factors Engineering Measures for Minimizing Human Error in Nuclear Power Facilities (원자력 시설에서의 인적 오류 발생 최소화를 위한 인간공학적 단기대책수립에 관한 연구)

  • Lee, Dhong-Hoon;Byun, Seong-Nam;Lee, Yong-Hee
    • Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.121-125
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    • 2007
  • The objective of this study is to develop short-term prevention measures for minimizing possible human error in nuclear power facilities. To accomplish this objective, a group of subject matter experts (SMEs) were formed, which is consisting of those from regulatory bodies, academia, industries and research institutes. Prevention measures were established for urgent execution in nuclear power facilities on a short-term basis. This study suggests short-term measures for reducing human error on three different areas; (1) strengthening worker management, (2) enhancing workplace environments and working methods, and (3) improving the technologies regulating human factors. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Science and Technology, these short-term measures will be pursued and implemented systematically by utility and regulatory agencies. The details of prevention measures are presented and discussed.

The Selection of Human factors Evaluation Criteria for Information Display on VDT using AHP (AHP를 이용한 개량형 정보 표시 평가 항목의 중요도 선정에 관한 연구)

  • 차우창;장성필
    • Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.109-120
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    • 2004
  • In large scale complex system such as a nuclear power plant, it is important to select guidelines and/or checklist to evaluate the system performance, especially human performance for visual information while the number of evaluation items of the guidelines and checklist is voluminous. This paper presents the methodology and experiment for the relative weights or priority selection of evaluation items on the advanced information display of main control room in a nuclear power plant. To summarize this, 1) many human factors guidelines of Visual Display Terminal(VDT) displays are collected, 2) the collected guidelines are integrated and unified based on some rules in a way to avoid confusion or errors about work performances of operator groups, 3) using the unified guidelines, the more important items are defined when the advanced information indexes are applied by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP). For employing the AHP, the decisions and response of many human factors evaluation specialists in this field are collected to get the priority order of the evaluation items of VDT. The result of this paper will be applied for the evaluation of the usability of next generation of nuclear power plant which is focused on the visual information display on VDT.

Application of Digital Human Modeling for Design of Yacht

  • Kim, Dong-Joon;Ko, Chan Gil;Lee, Yujeong;Chang, Seong Rok
    • Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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    • v.32 no.5
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    • pp.475-480
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    • 2013
  • Objective: In this study, virtual reality was adopted to consider ergonomic factors in yacht design. Virtual human which is the same actual human was created in virtual environment using Digital Human Modeling which has been used in the manufacturing communities to design better workplaces and maximize the safety of workers. Background: During the past 40 years yachting has expanded from being, generally speaking, a minority sport - too expensive for the large majority of people - into a major recreational activity practiced by millions all over the world. Many new yacht designs have appeared and number of professional, as well as amateur designers has increased steadily. But they had not considered ergonomic factors in yacht design. Method: Worker's posture, traffic line and workload had been analyzed in sailing yacht. After the caution level was evaluated, we pointed out clues which had high workload and interference. To reduce workload, we applied ergonomic principles for improving working conditions and environments in Digital Human Model. Results: We found the space problems and workload of postures. Conclusion: (1) Unnatural posture of crews was sustained. (2) Workload that occurs in the human body was overloaded. (3) Crew's work space was very narrow. Application: This study will be applied the new ergonomic design of yacht.

Comparative Study of Coupling Factors for Assessment of Low-Frequency Magnetic Field Exposure

  • Shim, Jae-Hoon;Choi, Min-Soo;Jung, Kyu-Jin;Kwon, Jong-Hwa;Byun, Jin-Kyu
    • Journal of Magnetics
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.516-523
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    • 2016
  • In this paper, coupling factors are calculated based on numerical analysis in order to assess various non-uniform low-frequency magnetic field exposure situations. Two types of non-uniform magnetic field sources are considered; circular coil and parallel wires with balanced currents. For each magnetic field source, source current values are determined so that reference magnetic field magnitude can be measured at the specified point on the human model. Various exposure situations are investigated by changing parameters such as the distance between source and human model, radius of circular coil, and the gap between parallel wires. For equivalent human models, prolate spheroid model and simplified human model from IEC 62311 standard are used. The calculated coupling factor values are compared with those obtained by 2D uniform disk human model, and the dependence of coupling factor on the choice of equivalent human model is analyzed.

Analysis of Factors Behind Human Error in Fatal Construction Accidents using the m-SHEL Model (m-SHEL 모델에 의한 건설 중대 사고재해의 휴먼에러 배후 요인 분석)

  • An, Sung-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.415-423
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    • 2022
  • As human factors are the most important cause of construction accidents, it is important to reduce human error in construction work to reduce accidents. However, the error forcing context in organizational situations acts as a factor behind human error. Therefore, fatal construction accidents were analyzed using the m-SHEL model, which can identify the factors behind human errors. Through such analysis, it was found that there are differences in the detailed factors behind human errors according to the type of fatal accidents in construction, This study is meaningful in that it confirmed through accident cases that it is important to understand and respond to organizational situations in order to reduce human error in construction work.

SEM-based study on the impact of safety culture on unsafe behaviors in Chinese nuclear power plants

  • Licao Dai;Li Ma;Meihui Zhang;Ziyi Liang
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.10
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    • pp.3628-3638
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    • 2023
  • This paper uses 135 Licensed Operator Event Reports (LOER) from Chinese nuclear plants to analyze how safety culture affects unsafe behaviors in nuclear power plants. On the basis of a modified human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS) framework, structural equation model (SEM) is used to explore the relationship between latent variables at various levels. Correlation tests such as chi-square test are used to analyze the path from safety culture to unsafe behaviors. The role of latent error is clarified. The results show that the ratio of latent errors to active errors is 3.4:1. The key path linking safety culture weaknesses to unsafe behaviors is Organizational Processes → Inadequate Supervision → Physical/Technical Environment → Skill-based Errors. The most influential factors on the latent variables at each level in the HFACS framework are Organizational Processes, Inadequate Supervision, Physical Environment, and Skill-based Errors.

Analysis of Traps Incidents of Metro Train Door by Human Factors (인적요인에 의한 도시철도 출입문 끼임사건 분석)

  • Pak, Tae Young;Oh, Hyun Soo;Chang, Seong Rok
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.33 no.6
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    • pp.85-92
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    • 2018
  • This study aimed to reduce of traps incident of metro train door by suggesting preventive actions throughout analyzing why railway drivers and passengers commit unsafe behaviors which are human factors making occurrence of the incidents. The incident cases were analyzed and Incident Tree was structured by brainstorming with safety experts. In addition, the questionnaire survey was conducted for comparison with the analysis results. As the result, this study suggested driver's factors, passenger's factors, and public relation plan for safe use of metro in order to reduce the frequency of the incidents. For driver's factors, implementing job-rotation systems between railway and non-railway drivers, installing Object Detection Sensors between the metro doors and PSD, and flexible operation of dwell time were suggested. For passenger's factors, placing a platform safety person, installing a safety fence in front of the stairs and the elevators, and country wide public relations through mass media were suggested.

Analysis of Accidents Causes in an Auto-Glass Manufacturing Company using the Comprehensive Human Error Analysis Model (통합적 휴먼에러 분석 모델을 이용한 자동차 유리공장의 사고 원인 분석)

  • Lim, Hyeon-Kyo;Lee, Seung-Hoon
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.27 no.4
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    • pp.90-95
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    • 2012
  • To prevent similar accidents with the basis of industrial accidents already occurred in industrial plants, it would be possible only after true causes are grasped. Unfortunately, however, most accident investigation carried out with the basis of legal regulation failed to grasp them so that similar accidents have been repeated without cease. This research aimed to find out differences between results from conventional accident investigation and those from human error analysis, and to draw out effective and practical counter-plans against industrial accidents occurred repeatedly in an autoglass manufacturing company. As for analysis, about 110 accident cases that occurred for last 7 years were collected, and by adopting the Comprehensive Human Error Analysis Technique developed by the previous researchers, not direct causes but basic fundamental causes that might induce workers to human errors were sought. In consequence, the result showed that facility factors or environmental factors such as improper layout, mistakes in engineering design, and malfunction of interlock system were authentic major accident causes as opposed to managerial factors such as personal carelessness or failure to wearing personal protective equipments, and/or improper work methods.