The Case For Human Factors in Industry and Government Report of a Workshop (1997) / Chapter Skim
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SIX PERSPECTIVES
SIX PERSPECTIVES
Pages 5-18
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From page 5... ...
One way to better understand diverse industry needs is to stu(ly real examples from enterprises in which human factors experts have successfully integrated their work. To highlight what works anti what (loesn't in various industries, the Committee on Human Factors asked executives from six fieldsaviation, computer and communications technology, the automobile industry, electronics, insurance, anti military research anti (1evelopment to (liscuss their experiences in effectively articulating the value of human factors.
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From page 6... ...
This often requires changing certain aspects of the industry culture. For example, human factors professionals at the National Transportation Safety Board realized several years ago that to integrate human factors into their work, they would require changing some conventional ideas about accidents and human performance.
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From page 7... ...
The experience of Delta Air Lines illustrates how amajor air carrier can change its culture of safety. At Delta, human factors professionals faced the challenge of incorporating human factors principles into the day-to-day operations of a carrier with some 65,000 employees, 545 airplanes, and over 2,600 daily flights and to do so with an eye toward both economics and safety.
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From page 8... ...
An argument that emphasizes improved public safety may succeed with a government regulatory agency or a commercial airline, but it will probably fall flat in the computer industry, where accidents that threaten life and limb are rare. A better approach with computer and communications 8 THE CASE FOR HUMAN FACTORS IN INDUSTRY AND GOVERNMENT
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From page 9... ...
This strategy involves three stages. First, human factors specialists must convince corporate boards and chief executives that attention to human factors can lea(1 to the highly prize(1 goal of "(discontinuous change" in other words, a change that yields a significant competitive advantage, not a minor one.
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From page 10... ...
It has enabled a new industry called personal computing and will enable the next new industry called network computing, or whatever term it is given by historians. David Nage/ ~ ~ , ~ shrink-wrappe(1 software, are use(1 primarily for wor(1 processing anti relatively simple accounting.
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From page 11... ...
At the same time, equally strong forces discourage car manufacturers from investing in ergonomics: it is expensive to hire ergonomics specialists and to train engineers and operators, it costs more to retool manufacturing components and redesign parts than to carry over existing equipment, and the costs of giving employees more rest time, or "ergonomic relief," run contrary to the corporate trend of "lean manufacturing," or getting the most out of the workforce. The General Motors experience proves that these barriers can be overcome by strategic thinking by human If ~ put a thing on a table instead of on the floor, ~ can save a few seconds.
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From page 12... ...
Human factors experts can demonstrate that investments in human factors will help avoid product liability suits, fines for noncompliance with federal regulations, and other potential legal problems. They can also stress that companies have a responsibility under federal occupational safety and health laws to prevent their employees from getting hurt.
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From page 13... ...
Indeed, the discipline of human factors is rapidly moving into a phase in which successes will come less from technological solutions and more from integrated people solutions that improve organizational capacity. The Change Management Group at Hewlett-Packard illustrates how human factors professionals can be leaders in organizational change.
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From page 14... ...
He attributes the success of his Liberty Mutual human factors team not so much to a few spectacular achievements as to a regular string of accomplishments, day in and day out. The human factors research team at Liberty Mutual Insurance has grown in 6 years from 3 specialists anti a budget of under $ ~ million to about 20 specialists and a budget of about $6 million.
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From page 15... ...
It is difficult to determine the real dollar benefit amounts of applying ergonomics to human practice, especially since much of human factors involves preventing rare occurrences. Other preventive fields, such as pharmaceuticals, architecture, education, and environmental protection, are not asked to provide detailed cost-benefit justifications.
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From page 16... ...
Tom Leamon thinking about a particular problem, a human factors professional will often see additional improvements that can be made. For example, a major human automation project in the British coal mining industry grew out of a simple request from a customer about how much lighting was needed on a control console.
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From page 17... ...
To help meet all of these challenges, Department of Defense researchers must be able to articulate a solid case for government investments in human factors. They must be able to persuade two major groups of stakeholders: first, upper management in the service branches and the Department of Defense, who request work from the laboratories, (letermine their funding, and give authority for their continued operation, second, users of laboratory products, including project sponsors anti the broa(ler science community.
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From page 18... ...
However, human factors laboratories have not effectively reached a critical subgroup of product users, the designers and engineers of military systems. Some designers remain unconvinced that human factors research can significantly improve the usability of their systems.
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