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Engineering psychology: contribution to system safety

Engineering psychology: contribution to system safety
Engineering psychology: contribution to system safety
There has been a growing interest in the area of engineering psychology. This article considers some of the major accidents which have occurred in recent years, and the contribution which engineering psychology makes to designing systems and enhancing safety. Accidents are usually multi-causal, and the resident pathogens in the design and operation of human-machine systems can lead to devastating consequences not only for the workers themselves but also for people in the surrounding communities. Specifically, in each of the accidents discussed, operators were unaware of the seriousness of the system malfunctions because warning displays were poorly designed or located, and operators had not been sufficiently trained in dealing with these emergency situations. Since the 1940s machines and equipment have become more complex in nearly every industry. This, coupled with the continuing need to produce effective and safe systems, has resulted in psychology professionals being called to assist in designing even more efficient operating systems. In earlier times, a worker who made a mistake might spoil a piece of work or waste some time. Today, however, a worker's erroneous action can lead to dire consequences
1741-0460
107-112
Noyes, Jan
990603f5-b698-42f3-b451-9ce6d3c1378e
Stanton, Neville
351a44ab-09a0-422a-a738-01df1fe0fadd
Noyes, Jan
990603f5-b698-42f3-b451-9ce6d3c1378e
Stanton, Neville
351a44ab-09a0-422a-a738-01df1fe0fadd

Noyes, Jan and Stanton, Neville (1997) Engineering psychology: contribution to system safety. Computing & Control Engineering Journal, 8 (3), 107-112.

Record type: Article

Abstract

There has been a growing interest in the area of engineering psychology. This article considers some of the major accidents which have occurred in recent years, and the contribution which engineering psychology makes to designing systems and enhancing safety. Accidents are usually multi-causal, and the resident pathogens in the design and operation of human-machine systems can lead to devastating consequences not only for the workers themselves but also for people in the surrounding communities. Specifically, in each of the accidents discussed, operators were unaware of the seriousness of the system malfunctions because warning displays were poorly designed or located, and operators had not been sufficiently trained in dealing with these emergency situations. Since the 1940s machines and equipment have become more complex in nearly every industry. This, coupled with the continuing need to produce effective and safe systems, has resulted in psychology professionals being called to assist in designing even more efficient operating systems. In earlier times, a worker who made a mistake might spoil a piece of work or waste some time. Today, however, a worker's erroneous action can lead to dire consequences

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Published date: June 1997

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 73925
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/73925
ISSN: 1741-0460
PURE UUID: 65c7d3f5-e7f7-418c-b23b-76c1106a0f59
ORCID for Neville Stanton: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8562-3279

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Date deposited: 11 Mar 2010
Last modified: 08 Jan 2022 03:09

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Contributors

Author: Jan Noyes
Author: Neville Stanton ORCID iD

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