ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a preview of the state of human factors/ergonomics (HFE) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and missed opportunities, discusses thriving platforms to activate HFE potential in several domains, and proposes a future roadmap of promising possibilities for HFE to play a meaningful role and prosper in the GCC. HFE's scientific principles are based on three main characteristics: HFE takes a system approach; HFE is design-driven; and HFE focuses on two main interconnected outcomes, performance and well-being of the individual. HFE is a socio-technical system approach that aligns people, technology, work systems, and the environment using a design-driven system analysis that aims to optimize performance and well-being. GCC countries may have overlooked HFE mainly due to its unfamiliarity to policy-makers, academic institutions, researchers, professionals, and the private sector. In 2017, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society established a new technical group that focuses on children and youth in relation to products and the environment.