ABSTRACT
The practical human factors contributions to air traffic control workspace design often rely on compromises between human factors requirements and those of other disciplines. On some pretext or other, many people like to visit air traffic control workplaces and to watch and listen to controllers working. Tower workspaces can be studied by simple mock-ups to check basic functions, lines of sight, broad divisions of responsibility, layouts, and information flows. Air traffic control workspaces are much more complex, and the permissible flexibility in adjustment has to be carefully planned in relation to the environment. Temporary air traffic control environments for events such as air displays can suffer severely from the noise of departing and arriving aircraft, although the noise can act as feedback that an unseen aircraft has in fact departed or arrived. The recommended thermal environment in air traffic control is in accord with that for other sedentary occupations.
