Sustainability - human factors

Question 1

What is the definition of sustainability?

Answer 1

Sustainability is defined as the ability to maintain at a certain rate or level of consumption/usage to avoid the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an
ecological balance

• Sustainability encompasses both the economic,
  environment, and the social elements

Question 2

What is the ladder of inference and how do we use it?

Answer 2

Ladder of inference is a mental model

By using the Ladder of Inference, we can learn to get back to the facts and use our beliefs and experiences to
positively effect outcomes, rather than allowing them to narrow our field of judgment.

Question 3

What do mental models determine and why are they so powerful?

Answer 3

Our mental models determine what we see and what we do not see. They are the symbols that we use to mentally process the environment in which we function. Mental models are so powerful - because they affect what we see.

o Conflict with deeply held internal images of how the world works
o Mental models determine how we take action

Question 4

What is the definition of a mental model?

Answer 4

Mental models are deeply ingrained assumptions,
generalisations or even pictures or images that influence
how we understand the world and take action.

Question 5

What is the definition of a personal mastery?

Answer 5

Personal mastery is a discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively.

Question 6

What is the definition of team learning?

Answer 6

Team Learning is about learning together to develop group intelligence and ability greater than the sum of individual members & abilities.

Question 7

What is the definition of shared learning?

Answer 7

Shared Vision is about building a practice of unearthing

shared pictures of the future that foster genuine commitment and enrolment rather than compliance.

Question 8

What questions are asked when talking about creative tension?

Answer 8

• What do we want?
• What do we have?
• Why do we have what we have?
• What do we have to keep, build, destroy to get what we want?
• What actions/projects do we need to initiate?

Question 9

What is the iceberg analogy?

Answer 9

An issue is often presented to us, in the form of events and patterns.
• To get to the root of any issue, we should uncover the underlying structures which form the patterns and events, that are often only visible to us.

Question 10

What does HAIR stand for?

Answer 10

HAIR
Helicopter vision
Analytical power
Imagination
Realism

Question 11

What is the basis of systems thinking?

Answer 11

The basis of systems thinking is the holistic approach, of
seeing the system as a whole, of seeing the forest rather
than the trees

Question 12

What is an “event”?

Answer 12

1. An Event is an occurrence at some moment in time.
2. We’re hung up on events rather than their causes or
   how they fit into a larger pattern.
3. We cannot continue to react to events; rather we must anticipate and shape them.
4. Solutions that address events are short-lives because they do not address the fundamental
   structure that caused the event

Question 13

What are “Patterns” (Trends)?

Answer 13

1. Patterns are changes in events over time.
2. Patterns allow us to understand the systemic structure that drives that pattern.
3. In a pattern, we begin to see how a series of events are inter-related and begin thinking about what
   caused them.
4. To anticipate events and ultimately change a pattern,
   we need to move to the level of structure.

Question 14

What is a “Structure”?

Answer 14

1. A structure is the way system components are interrelated, i.e. the organisation of a system.
2. A system’s structure give rise to events and patterns
   (trends).
3. Although systems are built on structures, they are invisible.
4. The structure holds the key to lasting change because
   actions taken at the structural level are creative and
   influence the future.
5. Know when to address a problem at the event, pattern or structural level or a combination of the three.

Question 15

What is burden shifting and why do people do it?

Answer 15

• An underlying problem generates symptoms that demand attention.
• But the underlying problem is obscure or costly to
confront.
• So people shift the burden to other solutions that
address the symptoms.

Question 16

What is Murphy’s Law?

Answer 16

• Complacency
• The BELIEF:
– It will never happen to me
• The LAW:
– If something can go wrong … It will …
The Original Murphy's Law states:
"If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those can result in catastrophe, then someone will do it.“ Edward A. Murphy

Question 17

What is the James Reason’s Swiss Cheese Model of Accident Causation?

Answer 17

• The Swiss Cheese model of accident investigation is
based on the premise that an accident is not caused by
a single error or event.
• There is usually a series of errors which managed to
break through the defences in an organisation.
• These defences include Regulations, Design and
Manufacture Processes, SOP, Training and finally the
Operator (see diagram in next page).

Question 18

What is the role of human factors in workplace?

Answer 18

The study of human capabilities and limitations in the

workplace.

Question 19

What are the two types of human errors and what do the consist of?

Answer 19

Human Error
a) Sources of error
b) Types of error.
Managing Human Factors
a) Error Management
b) Human Resource Management
Optimizing Human and System Relationship to improve
Safety, Quality and Efficiency.

Question 20

Why do we need to focus on human factors?

Answer 20

➢ To enhance awareness of individual and organisational human factors issues that may affect safety.
➢ To acquire human factors skills, such as communication, effective teamwork, task management, situational awareness etc..
➢ Such training in Human Factor will make a positive
impact on the safety and efficiency of maintenance
operations, and ultimately encourage a positive
attitude towards safety whilst discouraging unsafe
behaviour and practices

Question 21

What are the attributes of human factors?

Answer 21

• Human physiology
Mechanical, physical and biochemical functions of
humans in good health
• Anthropometrics
The scientific study of measurements of the human body
• Psychology
Perception, cognition, memory, social interaction, error
• Work place design
• Environmental conditions
• Human-machine interface

Question 22

The data for these decisions are available from anthropometry and biomechanics.

What is anthropometry and biomechanics?

Answer 22

Anthropometry was concerned with the comparative study of human evolution, variation, and classification especially through measurement and observation.

Biomechanics is the science concerned with the internal and external forces acting on the human body and the
effects produced by these forces.

Question 23

What role does psychology play in human factors

Answer 23

1) Input characteristics
Humans have been provided with a sensory system for collecting information from the world around them, enabling them to respond to external events and to carry out the required task.
2) Information processing
These human capabilities can have limitations. Poor manuals, instrumentation and warning system design has frequently resulted from a failure to take into account the capabilities and limitations of the human information processing system.
3) Short and long-term memories
are involved, as well as motivation and stress. Psychology provides the source of background knowledge.

Question 24

What are some examples of software

Answer 24

Procedures, manuals, task cards, AMM, rules and regulations, training, computer software, etc

Question 25

What are some examples of hardware

Answer 25

Aircraft, tooling, ground equipment, access within the aircraft, ergonomics, etc

Question 26

What are some examples of environment

Answer 26

The situation in which the S-H-L system must function – noise, lighting, temperature, hangar space, economic climate of the industry, etc

Question 27

What are some examples of liveware

Answer 27

Human – YOU – including colleagues, managers, supervisors, domestic pressures, etc

Question 28

What is an error chain?

Answer 28

In the examples, the accident or incident could be avoided if things were done differently. They involved a series of human factors problems which formed an error chain.

Engineering staff members, progressing towards a mishap can interrupt that sequence of events such that it would not occur. Aircraft maintenance engineer could identify where the vulnerable areas might be within the
maintenance ‘link’, which should prevent the error chain reaching a catastrophic conclusion.

Question 29

What is the definition of human error?

By James Reason

Answer 29

“Error will be taken as a generic term to encompass all those occasions in which a planned sequence of mental or physical activities fails to achieve its intended outcome, and when these failures cannot be attributed
to the intervention of some chance agency”.

Question 30

What are the three kinds of errors?

Answer 30

Slips, lapses, mistakes

Question 31

What are slips?

Answer 31

Slips can be thought of as actions not carried out as intended or planned, e.g. A classic example is an aircraft’s crew that becomes so fixated on trouble-shooting a burned out warning light that they do not
notice their fatal descent into the terrain. This is attention failures

Question 32

What are lapses?

Answer 32

Lapses are missed actions and omissions. Memory failures (lapses) often appear as omitted items in a checklist, place losing, or forgotten intentions. E.g. when under stress during in-flight emergencies, critical steps in emergency procedures can be missed. However, even when not particularly stressed, individuals have forgotten to set the flaps on approach or lower the landing gear.

Question 33

What are mistakes?

Answer 33

Mistakes are a specific type of error brought about by a faulty plan/intention. In the case of planning failures (mistakes), the person did what he/she intended to do, but it did not work. The goal or plan was wrong. This type of error is referred to as a mistake.

Question 34

What are violations?

Answer 34

Violations sometimes appear to be human errors, but they differ from slips, lapses and mistakes because they are deliberate ‘illegal’ actions, i.e. somebody did something knowing it to be against the rules (e.g. deliberately failing to follow proper procedures).

By distinguishing errors from violations, companies can develop a “Just Culture” to assign appropriate culpability to employee & management.