ABSTRACT
Human Factors and Ergonomics (HF&E) are concerned with the interactions between people and technology and the factors affecting the interaction. The aim is to make systems work better by improving the interactions. There is a large body of scientific evidence for use in creating optimal conditions for work. In order to exploit this knowledge effectively, processes are required to ensure that system designers and managers have the tools to apply it at the appropriate points in the design cycle. Hereafter, ‘Human Factors Integration’ (HFI) is used to describe these processes. In the USA, the term ‘Human Systems Integration’ (HSI) is more commonly used. HSI is rejected here because few man-made systems can operate without people – essential components of all man-made systems, no matter how automated. In this sense, HFI is an essential part of systems design and management.
A system consists of a set of elements, the relations between the elements and the boundary around them. Inputs cross the boundary from the environment or from other systems and enter the system: the elements interact on the inputs and with each other to create one or more outputs, which leave the system, enter the environment or become the inputs to other systems. Figure 1 is a generic model – systems may produce products, energy or knowledge or a combination of these and varying amounts of unintended or unwanted products. In practice, the output of the system is the same as its purpose. In the past, the unintended or unwanted outputs of systems (such as waste products in Figure 1) were often ignored, but
