Project B2 - Understanding & Integration of Human Factors Across the Railway Network |
|
Partners:
University of Sheffield
University of Nottingham
Researchers:
Sheffield - Prof. R. Hockey, R. Bye
Nottingham - Prof. J. Wilson, T. Farrington-Darby, B. Norris
Dates: 2003-2004
Background:
There is an urgent need, as identified by Cullen and others, to address issues concerned with the way people interact with technical and organisational aspects of rail systems. Some of the relevant issues and problems are being rectified by the ergonomis/human factors (HF) research programmes of Network Rail and RSSB amongst others. However there is great value in an examination of what is known, whata research is underway, and what of relevance is being carried out in other domains, and integrating this intelligence in order to understand the potentially valuable fundamental HF knowledge that exists or is missing. Such knowledge is a vital component of efforts to provide a reliable, effective, high quality, inter-operable and safe railway.
In order to make rail HF research more useful to the industry we need to systematise this knowledge and determine how it can be most effectively applied to the operation of present and future rail systems in an integrated manner. This early project reviews rail HF knowledge and examples of successful HF integration (HFI) in other complex work domains including aerospace and control room operation. Given the limited time scale and resources, the focus of the review is necessarily constrained. It focuses on performance-related issues of the broad range of rail employees - drivers, signallers, controllers, trackside workers - as they relate to technology, work design and management/organisational factors. It will not directly consider research on passengers, except where it bears on these core questions.
The project provides the basis for strategic planning of fundamental HF research in rail operations, to sit alongside and support the applied research agendas of the industry. Identified research priorities will lead to an informed research agenda that will ultimately provide better and more relevant data, and facilitate the integration of HF findings and methods within the industry.
Aims:
- To assess the state of current HF knowledge relevant to the railway network, and to identify gaps in this knowledge.
- To assess HF integration plans (HFIP) and HF integration standards (HFIS) in the railway industry and other related domains.
- To prioritise and structure HF research priorities for the railway network of the future.
The issue of effective practical implementation of HF findings within the rail business, and of HFIP and HFIS for the future development of the system, is of major interest. RSSB Human Factors Group, Network Rail HQ, WCRM and LUL will all be willing to cooperate in this part of the study in order to share in the outcomes.
The work programme thus involves several interrelated strands of work:
- Universities of Nottingham and Sheffield: A review of known published literature from HF in Rail as well as HF work relevant to rail but from other domains such as aviation, process control, road transpot.
- University of Nottingham: A review and exposure of the unpublished HF work being performed within the industry through the first European Rail Human Factors Conference organised in October 2003, in York.
- University of Sheffield: A review of existing HFI approaches in other safety critical domains.
- University of Nottingham: Semi-structured interviews with practitioners to investigate the reality of effective HFI in UK Rail and issues surrounding this process.
- Universities of Sheffield and Nottingham: Consolidation of the findings from each of these strands of investigation to form suggestions for future directions in Rail HF research.
Progress to Date:
The investigatory work has been competed and the final reports are currently being compiled.
You can download the report sent to the Railway Safety and Standards Board on the progress of Project B2 up to September 2003 by clicking HERE