HUMAN FACTORS

HUMAN FACTORS

Oleh : Bayu Nurwinanto

In simple terms, human factors are all those things that enhance or improve human perfor­mance in the workplace. As a discipline, human factors is concerned with understanding interactions between people and other elements of complex systems. Human factors applies scientific knowledge and principles as well as lessons learned from previous incidents and operational experience to optimise human wellbeing, overall system performance and reli­ability. The discipline contributes to the design and evaluation of organisations, tasks, jobs and equipment, environments, products and systems. It focuses on the inherent characteristics, needs, abilities and limitations of people and the development of sustainable and safe working cultures.

Human Factors Engineering (HFE) focuses on the application of human factors knowledge to the design and construction of socio-technical systems. The objective is to ensure systems are designed in a way that optimises the human contribution to production and minimises potential for design-induced risks to health, personal or process safety or environmental per­formance.

The major oil & gas operating companies recognise that Human Factors Engineering has an important contribution to make to ensure the quality, safety and fitness for purpose of equip­ment and facilities used in the oil & gas industry (appendix 1 provides examples of problems that can occur when HFE is overlooked in design).

This Recommended Practice (RP) adopts a practical, cost-effective and balanced approach to applying HFE on oil & gas projects. It recognises that many HFE issues can be controlled simply by ensuring compliance with existing technical standards. However, there are times where there is a gap between what can be specified in technical standards and the design fea­tures needed to support efficient, reliable and safe human performance

This RP involves three elements for controlling HFE-related risk:

1. Compliance with relevant technical specifications
2.  HFE specific design analysis and design validation
3. Organisation and competence to deliver appropriate standards of HFE quality control

Evidence that HFE has been adequately considered in design. The process allows projects to demonstrate that consideration has been given to reducing the HFE risks and the potential for human error to a level that can be shown to be As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) through engineering and design.

APPLICATION
The process set out in this RP is intended for application to major projects (nominally defined as those with a capital value in excess of US$50 million), or those with the potential for major accident hazards – process safety, environmental incidents or major loss of life.

The process is scaleable to smaller projects and those that do not have major accident hazard potential. The emphasis is on project complexity rather than capital value. Assessment of project HFE complexity involves consideration of the degree of change or novelty being intro­duced, criticality (to process or personal safety, environmental control or production) as well as issues associated with the operational context such as geographical location, climatic condi­tions, and hazards inherent to the operation.

ENGINEERING CONTRACTORS
Engineering contractors. At one extreme are global companies who – often in partnership or consortia – take on the role of principal engineering contractor, sometimes from Front End Engineering Design (FEED) through to Construction and Commissioning. At the other extreme are the very many consultancies and vendors providing specialist services or equip­ment across the industry.

An important aim of this RP is to help engineering contractors and suppliers deliver a higher standard of HFE support by providing consistency in terms of:

• Understanding of the scope of HFE and how it relates to other engineering disciplines
• The value that investment in HFE is expected to deliver
• The key activities and expected deliverables
• The competence – in terms of professional training and experience – expected of individu­als assigned responsibility for managing, conducting or supporting HFE activities
• The type of organisational arrangements likely to be required within a project team.