Human Factors, Education, and Work Design

14-5 Fatigue Boring repetitive jobs Incomplete or incorrect documentation Lack of spare parts Lack of tools and equipment Poor training Smelly fumes Personal life problems Substance abuse Loud noises Snow Unrealistic deadlines Poorly designed testing for skill and knowledge Slippery floors Poor communication Poor instructions Poor tool control safety records. • Motivation for workers to want to do well and work safely. • Unifying work teams and groups so they get along and work together to get the job done right. • Treating all workers equally. Educational Psychology Educational psychologists study how people learn and design the methods and materials used to educate people of all ages. Everyone learns differently and at a different pace.

Supervisors should design blocks of instruction that relate to a wide variety of learning styles. Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering is the organized approach to the study of work. It is important for supervisors to set reasonable work standards that can be met and exceeded. Unrealistic work standards create unnecessary stressors that cause mistakes. It is also beneficial to have an efficient facility layout so that there is room to work. Clean and uncluttered environments enhance work performance. Another aspect of industrial engineering that helps in the understanding of human factors is the statistical analysis of work performance. Concrete data of work performance, whether good or bad, can show the contributing factors that may have been present when the work was done.

14-6 Cognitive Science Organization Psychology 0 10 20 30 Not Complex Flight Exercise Caution Area of Concern Endangerment Low Risk Educational Psychology Safety Engineering Medical Science Computer Science Anthropometric Science Experimental Psychology Clinical Psychology Industrial Engineering

Human Factors

are required to read back instructions or clearances given by air traffic control (ATC) to ensure that the pilot receives the correct instructions and gives ATC an opportunity to correct if the information is wrong. Frank and Lillian Gilbreth also are known for their research on fatigue. Also in the early 1900s, Orville and Wilbur Wright were the first to fly a powered aircraft and also pioneered many human factors considerations. While others were trying to develop aircraft with a high degree of aerodynamic stability, the Wrights intentionally designed unstable aircraft with cerebralized control modeled after the flight of birds.

Between 1901 and 1903, the brothers worked with large gliders at Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to develop the first practical human interactive controls for aircraft pitch, roll, and yaw. On December 17, 1903, they made four controlled powered flights over the dunes at Kitty Hawk with their Wright Flyer. [Figure 14-11] They later developed practical in-flight control of engine power, plus an angle of attack sensor and stick pusher that reduced pilot workload. The brothers’ flight demonstrations in the United States and Europe during 1908-1909 awakened the world to the new age of controlled flight. Orville was the first aviator to use a seat belt and also introduced a rudder boost/ trim control that gave the pilot greater control authority. The Wrights’ flight training school in Dayton, Ohio included a flight simulator of their own design. The Wrights patented History of Human Factors Around 1487, Leonardo da Vinci began research in the area of anthropometrics. The Vitruvian Man, one of his most famous drawings, can be described as one of the earliest sources presenting guidelines for anthropometry.

[Figure 14-7] Around the same time, he also began to study the flight of birds. He grasped that humans are too heavy and not strong enough to fly using wings simply attached to the arms. Therefore, he sketched a device in which the aviator lies down on a plank and works two large, membranous wings using hand levers, foot pedals, and a system of pulleys. [Figure 14-8] Today, anthropometry plays a considerable role in the fields of computer design, design for access and maintainability, simplicity of instructions, and ergonomic issues. In the early 1900s, industrial engineers Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were trying to reduce human error in medicine.

[Figures 14-9 and 14-10] They developed the concept of using call backs when communicating in the operating room. For example, the doctor says “scalpel” and the nurse repeats “scalpel” and then hands it to the doctor. That is called the challenge-response system. Speaking out loud reinforces what tool is needed and provides the doctor with an opportunity to make corrections if it is not the necessary tool. This same verbal protocol is used in aviation today. Pilots