Human Factors Research and Nuclear Safety (1988) / Chapter Skim
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1. Introduction
1. Introduction
Pages 11-22
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From page 11... ...
, and other research and development agencies in government, private industry, and universities regarding an appropriate research program in human factors to enhance the safe operation of nuclear power plants." THE DEFINITION AND ORIGINS OF HUMAN FACTORS Human factors is a multidisciplinary field that draws on the methods, data, and principles of the behavioral and social 11
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From page 12... ...
As time progressed, specialists in human factors were asked to address problems of personnel selection, staffing, training, design of training equipment, protection from unusual and dangerous environments, and the many other factors that must be considered in achieving a habitable environment and a workable symbiosis between people and machines. However, even with this expanded scope questions concerned with the larger sociotechnical organization in which a system was embedded were often not addressed.
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From page 13... ...
Recognizing this early in its deliberations, the panel considered the term human factors to include those conditions that affect the performance both of individuals and of organizations. We believe that to ensure safety of nuclear power plant operation it is necessary to address the issues associated with human performance within systems from a view of human factors which encompasses not only the human-machine interface but also the larger sociotechnical system in which it is embedded.
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From page 14... ...
The Electric Power Research Institute expanded its human factors research program. It was clear from actions such as these that the first stage in fundamental learning had taken place.
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The interface between it and the individuals who operate and maintain it often called the "human-machine interface" is represented by Boundary A This boundary has been the focus of traditional human factors engineering.
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16 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT ORGANIZATIONAUMANAGEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE PERSONNEL SUBSYSTEM TECH N ICAU B ENGINEERING | SYSTEM . | A _ _ C B FIGURE 1 Components of an integrative system safety analysis.
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From page 17... ...
It is important to recognize that the nuclear power plant and its personnel and management Al operate within an economic, political, and social context, as shown in the outer layer of Figure 1. This level of analysis recognizes that safety is influenced by production and profit pressures, public support or opposition to the nuclear power plant, relations between the various regulators and the utility management, as weD as the specific policies and actions of the regulators.
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From page 18... ...
Controlling human error, and hence human-induced or humanexacerbated risk, should be done in the same way. Human factors research should be seen not as an answer to a question about risk, but as a control signal in a feedback system.
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From page 19... ...
The NRC must conduct regulatory research on the problem of coupling the control signals of research to their reliability and risk analysis so as to optimize the control operations, not just to answer questions and accumulate knowledge. A SCENARIO To emphasize the need for a sociotechnical approach, consider a control room crew confronted suddenly by a burst of alarms indicating that an abnormal transient has occurred.
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From page 20... ...
directly responsible for the quality of maintenance and, in return, encourage maintenance people to fee} a pride in their work? Do maintenance personnel fee} that they are part of a team with the operators?
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From page 21... ...
Whether the question is how best to integrate the shift technical advisor into the crew, how to facilitate timely exchange of information between operators and maintenance crews, how to encourage personnel to report near-miss incidents in a constructive way and how to encourage management and the NRC to use such reports, or how to communicate effectively with regulators and the public, organizational factors are, in many cases, paramount. Because of the range of topics that require research, we believe it is important to open the door to experts from a wider range of fields than traditional human factors.
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From page 22... ...
This was the first necessary, but not sufficient, step to achieving the goal of a reliable, safe system of nuclear power production. To ensure public safety, it is critical that the nuclear industry use a multidisciplinary approach to establish a research program to identify and evaluate means of improving safety.
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