Socio-technical

STAHR Socio-Technical Approach to assessing Human Reliability Phillips et al.. 1983... 

Phillips, L. D., P. Humphreys, and D, E. Embrey, 1983, A Socio-Technical Approach to A Human Reliability (STAHR), TR 83-4, July,... 

Hurst, N. W., Bellamy, L. J., Geyer, T. A., Astley, J. A. (1991). A Classification Scheme for Pipework Failures to Include Human and Socio-Technical Errors and their Contribution to Pipework Failure Frequencies. Journal of Hazardous Materials 26, 159-186. 

A very important contribution in this socio-technical era is made by Reason (Reason, 1990). He made a distinction between active failures, and latent conditions. The active failures are in general failures made by those at the sharp end of the accident causation (e.g. technical and human failures). Effects are felt almost immediately. Latent conditions are removed in time and space from the sharp end of the accident causation (e.g. organizational and technical failures) creating conditions for active failures to be made. A strict boundary between both concepts cannot be made and in reality can be seen as a sort of sliding transition. Here, the two concepts are separated... 

The last requirement, i.e. if all (root)cause areas are included, was used to retrieve three pro-active methods indicating safety risks. All three methods address the entire socio-technical system (technical, human and organizational). These three methods are used to construct a new pro-active method of indicating safety risks, which includes the benefits and addresses the limitations of these three existing methods. The three methods evaluated are MORT, Johnson (Johnson, 1980), TRIPOD, Hudson (Hudson et al., 1991), and PRISMA, van der Schaaf (Schaaf van der, 1992). 

Kirwan B., 2001. Coping with accelerating socio-technical systems, Safety Science (37), pp. 77-107. 

Technical advantage/function What technical (social or aesthetic) function is to be achieved (advantage of examined substanee, preparation or proeess) Summary of existing devised (as far as these are known) and diffused socio-technical options, which perform the desired funetion. Deseription of how the hazardous substance performs this function and what other aspeets play a role in its application (e.g. process integration, disposal). Brief list of options to perform this function that are generally available from a teohnieal aspect. 

Our society is characterized by the deployment of large, complex infrastructures which are interconnected among them in intricate ways. These infrastructures are composite socio-technical systems-of-systems, whose functioning comes out from the interaction of multiple components and organizations, mostly loosely coupled and weakly coordinated [15]. 

In addition, it should be considered that the picture is further complicated by the fact that security solutions require the application of additional socio-technical systems, vulnerable themselves, and which can be used themselves as attack means (cf. attack to the Twin Towers on September 11th, 2001). 

With less than perfect (i.e., real) systems, in the absence of (successful) fault tolerance, failures may occur and will presumably need to be tolerated somehow by the encompassing (possibly socio-technical) system. However, this notion of failure tolerance is just fault tolerance at the next system level. 

The successful design and deployment of any complex system that interacts directly with humans thus calls for socio-technical as well as technical expertise. One particular problem is that of how best to partition an overall task between humans and computers so as (i) to reduce the probability of failures due to misunderstandings across the human-machine interface, and (ii) to make best use of the greatly differing abilities that humans and computers have with respect to following complicated detailed sequences of instructions, and recognizing that a situation is both novel and potentially dangerous. 

Socio-technical systems and autonomous work groups... 

Cherns, A. B. (1976). The principles of socio-technical design. Human Relations 29 783-92. 

With the exception of the two telephone interviews, all interviews were conducted on farm using semi-structured schedules and lasted between VA to 2 A hours. These interviews were recorded and transcribed for pattern searching. Based on information from advisors and initial fanner interviews, farmers were subsequently selected to represent the range of perspectives held within the socio-technical network group (the mechanization cooperative). The analysis is presented in three sections. The first depicts farmers narrative on organic diffusion and conversion processes, and the means by which farmers have built social and technical relations within these processes. The second section focuses on the strategies employed by actors that were peripheral to farmer interviews, whilst in the third section the three categories of risk posed by the conversion/diffiision process are discussed. 

Farmer Narratives on Conversion and the Formation of a Local Socio-technical Network... 

The 1997-converters integrated with the local organic socio-technical network (the mechanization cooperative), one more loosely than the other who expressed similar ideas and thoughts to the 1995-converters. This farmer was pleased to have converted because he no longer had to feel that society looked down on him when spraying. Like the 1995-converters he also talked about his internal conversion process and the fact that he had become more orientated towards organic ideals after the conversion ... 

The advisory centre (Kvaegbrug Nordvest), as previously noted, played a primary role in the dissemination of information on organic practices via courses, and in creating a local organic socio-technical network. Due to this positive attitude towards organic, KN advisors were fundamental to the second wave of conversions ... 

Chems, A. (1976), The Principles of Socio-technical Design, Human Relations, Vol. 29, pp. 783-792. 

Rousseau, D. M. (1977), Technological Differences in Job Characteristics, Employee Satisfaction, and Motivation A Synthesis of Job Design Research and Socio-technical Systems Theory, Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, Vol. 19, pp. 18-42. 

Tiist, E. (1981), The Evolution of Socio-technical Systems, Ontario Ministry of Labor—Quality of Working Life Centre, Toronto. 

Technical system dominance Socio-technical integration... 

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