Introduction to Aviation Safety Human Factors Outline

AVIA 4000, Special Projects: Human Factors in Aviation

Raymond E. Cain, Jr., Ph.D., Instructor
Lesson Objectives
After completing this unit of instruction, the student will be able to demonstrate the following:
Define the term human factors
Describe the types of problems that human factors attempts to solve
Translate the history, evolution, and development of human factors into novel solutions
Explain the utility of viewing human factors from the SHEL(L) perspective
List the components of the SHEL(L) model
Describe the major characteristics of each SHEL(L) model component
Explain the interaction of liveware to itself and to the other components of the SHEL(L)
model
Apply the SHEL(L) model to complex human factor problems
What is Human Factors?
Generally speaking, human factors is the study of the interaction between humans and their
environments. The operative work here is interaction and it suggests the dynamism that
encompasses mans relationship with the things of creation and the things he creates. Itthat is to
say human factors and its associated interactionsalso, nonetheless, describes the boundaries or
interfaces at which things may go terribly awry. So, it is also a study of fit between the human,
its creations, and its environment.
Definition of Human Factors
Human factors (or ergonomics) may be defined as the technology concerned to optimize the
relationships between people and their activities by the systematic application of the human
sciences, integrated within the framework of system engineering
Debunking the definition
Human factors and ergonomics are used synonymously; however, ergonomics is usually
associated with design
Human factors is problem oriented rather than discipline centered
Human factors involves people and their activities
Human sciences comprise all those studies of the structure and nature or human beings,
their capabilities and limitations, and their behavior both singly and in groups
Ergonomists integrate their contributions with those of other people
The optimization of relationships comprises two sets of criteriahuman wellbeing and
the effectiveness of system performance
Evolution of Human Factors
18801890 Taylors and Gilbreths time in motion studies
19241930 Western Electrics Hawthorne Effect
19401945 The Cambridge Cockpit (Design/layout in a simulator)

1950the Ergonomics Research Society (United Kingdom)

o The word ergonomics was coined by Professor K.F.H. Murrell and means the science
of work
1957Human Factors Society (United States)
1961International Ergonomics Association
Emergence of Aviation Human Factors
1971 Human Factors in Transport Aircraft Operations
o Started at Longhborough University in England
197520th Technical Conference of IATA
o Something amiss related to the role and performance of man in civil aviation
o HF educational gap existed in aviation transportation
1976ASRS set up in the US
1977Tenerife
1978KLM provided the first human factors awareness program
1982CHIRP set up in the UK
Examples of Human Factors Problems
Human behavior and performance
Cognitive processes (e.g., situation awareness, decisionmaking, judgment, etc.)
Design
o Hardware
Controls and displays
Flight decks, aircraft cabins, public facilities
o Software
Communications
Human resource selection and training
The integration model: SHEL
Softwarerules, regulations, laws, orders, standard operating procedures, customs, practices,
and habits which govern the manner in which the system operates and in which the
information in it is organized
Hardware (physical property)buildings, vehicles, equipment, materials, etc.
Environment
Livewarehuman beings
The SHEL(L) Model
The SHEL Model was originally conceived by Elwyn Edwards in 1972
Edwards conceptualized human factors as the interface between humans (Liveware) and the
Software and tools (Hardware) they use within an Environment.

The Original SHEL Concept

The SHEL ModelInterrelationships

(see presentation)
Hawkins SHEL Adaptation

The SHEL model was modified into a building block concept in 1984 by Frank H. Hawkins
Assumptions of the SHEL model
No arrangement of hardware, software, and liveware exists in vacuo
These resources operate in the context of an environment made up of physical, economic,
political, and social factors
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o The environment consists of those factors or elements that are NOT in the control of
system designers
o Further, this is simply a convention to distinguish our system from the rest of the
universe
Livewarequintessentially it!
Liveware (or the human) is the most important component of the SHEL model
The study of liveware interactions between and among other SHEL components requires a
multi and interdisciplinary approach, for example . . .
o Medicine
o Physiology
o Psychology
o Ergonomics
The SHEL model: LH Interface
Knowledge of both component types is necessary
o The ergonomist provides expertise concerning the liveware component
o The systems engineer provides expertise concerning the hardware component
However, each system component may, to some extent, be tailored to suit the characteristics
of the other
Liveware CANNOT be fundamentally redesigned
o Its properties are variable only within relatively narrow limits
Other system resources may be contrived to fulfill their roles
o Design decisions are bounded only by the laws of nature, constraints imposed by the
environment, and by the limit of the designers ingenuity
System design must first accept liveware characteristics followed by the design of other
resources to match these human properties, which must be accepted as a given
o This approach is frequently inhibited by an inherent human tendency to design for
individuals as they should be, or as they are mistakenly believed to be
The SHEL model: LS Interface
The pilot must conform to several sets of rules, regulations, conventions, and operating
procedures
Software must not be in conflict with human characteristics
o It is futile to formulate rules that cannot be followed
o Thus, during a violations investigation, were the rules, rather than the violators, at fault?
Since most rules and regulations are codified in paper form, these documents are hardware
o Therein lies another issue: the relative availability and interpretability of these documents
The SHEL model: LE Interface
Factors over which designers and operators have no control
physical environment
o temperature
o radiation
o air pressure
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o weather
political and economic constraints
o deregulation
o oil prices
o supply and demand
changing circumstances
Examples of SHEL interface errors
Poor Equipment Design
Poor Procedures and Difficult Manuals
Poor Comfort Environment and Effects of Jet Lag
Poor Communication, Leadership, Followership, Teamwork, and DecisionMaking
Adding the Third Dimension
Systems typically comprise several units of each type of resource thus, more opportunity for
failures
HH
o plug and socket design
o signal data formats
o impedance matching
SS
o operating procedures versus rules and regulations versus aircraft certification
LL
o interrelations among crews, cabin staff, ATC, ground crews, and other personnel
ThreeDimensional SHEL Model
The threedimensional SHEL Model: additional dimensions have been added to the model to
emphasize that systems typically comprise several units of each type of resource

SHELCommand & Authority

Coordination of team (crew) efforts
o the crew commander must achieve satisfactory working relationships
o neither an overbearing, dictatorial approach (command role overemphasized) nor one in
which the command function is obscured (command role underemphasized) will be
satisfactory
TransCockpit Authority Gradient (TAG, Edwards, 1975)
o the variable to be optimized
o ensures a uniformly high standard of flight-deck management and interpersonal
relationships
How should flight crews interact in the cockpit?

What is the appropriate gradient for symbiosis?

SHELSystem Stability
A welldesigned system exists in a state of equilibrium, which is dependent upon highly
interactive links between its component parts
Any changeseven smallwithin a SHEL system may have far-reaching, undesirable,
deleterious consequences
Even in the absence of modifications to resource components, continuous review of a
dynamic system is necessary in order to adjust for changes beyond the control of the system
designers and managers
SHELSkill & Error To Err is Human!!
Humans have the capacity to acquire and employ skills
However, the notion of skill is inseparable from that of error
The philosophy of HF is to study the nature of error, and having done so, to take the
necessary steps to control it, minimize it, mitigate it, and eliminate any deleterious effects of
it
From this posture, it is known that errors can be classified into types having different
etiologies and different treatments
LCentered Approaches to Error
The most fruitful component to modify is L?
o Through training
o Through education
However, there may be tradeoffs to consider between the choice of training (L), of
equipment modification (H), or of procedural changes (S)
A second humancentered approach to error is to determine the point in the sequential chain
of human information processing at which a breakdown occurred
When assessing human information processing error, the result of such an analysis should
suggest
o ways in which the probability of error may be diminished, and
o appropriate means of detection and correction
Management skills are equally susceptible to this approach
o Failures in communication
o Inadequacies in the form of leadership provided

The Contemporary Scene

HF has the task of keeping abreast of new developments in hardware technology
Much of the current activity centers around the introduction of sophisticated automatic
systems
Pilots tasks are now little concerned with the direct control of aircraft but with providing
strategic decision making and supervisory management of the automatic systems
Humans are well human!!