Checklists human factors

The last category of techniques are various forms of checklists of factors that can influence human reliability. These are used mainly in a proactive auditing mode. They have the advantage that they are quick and easy to apply. However, considerable training may be necessary to interpret the results and to generate appropriate remedial strategies in the event that problems are identified. 

The following are some human factors aspects relevant to training but they are meant only as a stimulus to further study and consideration and not as an authoritative and exhaustive checklist. 

Checklists may also be used to supplement other tools for example, checklists on human factors may be used in conjunction with logic trees. Similarly, checklists may be used in combination with structured brainstorming tools such as What If/Checklist and Hazard and Operability (HAZOP) Analysis.(P It is also a good practice to apply a tool like the 5-Whys to the root causes identified from the checklist to verify whether they are truly root causes. 

The use of checklists, such as SCAT, is discussed in Chapter 9. See Chapter 6 for an example of a human factors checklist. 

Chapter 9 describes the use of human factors checklists in root cause analysis. 

AVhile some methods use checklists as the logic analysis step, an understanding of the logic tree approach is still helpful because checklists are developed from logic trees. Checklists are especially helpful when related to human factor issues. A sample checklist is included in Chapter 6 as Figure 6-6 (page 94). 

The use of checklists to supplement another root cause analysis method can be a very powerful technique, for example, human factors checklist(s) may be used in conjunction with logic trees. The checklist may be used as a guide during development of a logic tree, or as a check after the tree has been developed. The checklist essentially acts as a memory jogger to direct the investigation team. This is especially helpful if the team lacks previous experience in the subject matter. 

A variety of public and proprietary checklists are available that vary in comprehensiveness. There is no reason for an organization to start from scratch in developing a checklist. A human factors checklist and tables are included in Chapter 6. The Systematic Cause Analysis Technique (SCAT)< > is an example of a proprietary checklist. The accompanying CD-ROM also contains examples of checklists which can be modified for the readers use. 

ANALYSIS DOCUMENTATION. PrHA report documentation should include the PrHA worksheets, checklists, logic diagrams, human reliability analyses, and any other analysis made to better understand the scenarios. The PSM Rule requires that human factors that impact scenarios as cause or protection be expanded to analyze the basic cause of errors or response failures. For example, a cause may identify that an operator can turn the wrong valve to initiate an accident. The PSM Rule requires that basic causes also be identified. For example, valve is not labeled the operator has not been trained on the operation or the operator forgot the step. There may be more than one basic cause. (See also Section 3.2, paragraph on Human Factors.)... 

A second point needs to be made about the scope of this chapter the role of checklists. As will be seen, checldists have assumed importance as techniques for conducting human factors audits. They can also be used alone as evaluation devices, in applications as diverse as VDT workplaces (Ctikir et al. 1980), and risk factor assessment (Keyserfing et al. 1992). Hence, the structure tuid use of checklists will be covered in some detail independently of their use as an auditing technique. 

Usability refers to the auditor s ease of use of the audit system. Good human factors principles should be followed, such as document design guideUnes in constructing checklists (Patel et al 1993 Wright and Barnard 1975). If the instrument does not have good usabiUty, it will be used less often and may even show reduced reliability due to auditors errors. 

The ERNAP audits have been included here to provide examples of a checklist embedded in an audit system where the workplace is not the sampling unit. They show that non-repetitive tasks can be audited in a valid and reliable manner. In addition, they demonstrate how domain-specific audits can be designed to take advantage of human factors analyses already made in the domain. 

As a special-purpose technique in an area of high current visibility for human factors, the upper extremity checklist has proven validity, can be used by those with minimal ergonomics training for screening jobs, and takes only a few minutes per workstation. The same teeun has eilso developed... 

Degani, A., and Wiener, E. L. (1990), Human Factors of Flight-Deck Checklists The Normal Checklist, NASA Contractor Report 177548, Ames Research Center, CA. 

Lifshitz, Y., and Armstrong, T. J. (1986), A Design Checklist for Control and Prediction of Cumulative Trauma Disorder in Hand Intensive Manual Jobs, in Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 30th Annual Meeting. 

EEAM human factors checklist, 1141, 1142 Effective interest rates, 2337 Effectiveness ... 

One simple solution for engineers is to simply use human factors checklists. While many such checklists exist, they often do not distinguish among the qualities they enhance, which may not be related to safety and may even conflict with safety. The only way such universal guidelines could be useful is if all design qualities were complementary and achieved in exactly the same way, which is not the case. Qualities are conflicting and require design tradeoffs and decisions about priorities. 

DOE Order 5480.23, Nuclear Safety Analysis Reports (DOE 1994a), Paragraph 8b(3)(n), as amplified by Attachment 1, Paragraph 4f(3)(d)14, of the order (Topic 14) requires a systematic inquiry into or evaluation of human factors for the facility. DOE Memorandum, Safety Analysis Report Guidance - Human Factors, DOE/DP-625 (DOE 1992), indicates that the use of the Human Factors Safety Analysis checklist will satisfy the requirements of DOE Order 5480.23 concerning human factors for existing facilities. 

As stated in DOE-STD-3009-94, in order to meet the human-factors safety requirements of DOE Order 5480.23, a systematic inquiry into human factors must be performed. An effective method for accomplishing this for existing facilities is through the application of the Human Factors Safety Analysis checklists found in reference DOE 1992. 

Although the HCF has been extensively modified to accommodate a change in mission, it is in fact an existing faciiity, which imposes some practicai constraints with respect to human-machine interface optimization, it is therefore appropriate to use the checklist approach for performing a human factors evaluation of the HCF. Such an evaluation has been performed. Evaluation results for the first four checklist areas are addressed in this section, while adequacy assessments of the human-machine interfaces and control function allocation will be addressed In Sections 13.4 and 13.5, respectively. 

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