Wednesday 13 March 2013 | IET London: Savoy Place

Registration and refreshments

Conference Chair’s welcome and introduction

Dr Carl Sandom, Isys Integrity Ltd.

Integrating human factors into IEC 61508

Although general safety requirements exist in IEC61508 related to human factors, no detailed human factors guidance is provided within the standard.

In 2012 the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC) set up Ad-Hoc Group 16 to undertake a preliminary survey which concluded that there is a widely recognised need to provide detailed human factors processes and procedures which are integrated into the existing IEC61508 standard.

This presentation will:

• Examine the general need for human factors in IEC61508
• Explain what has been done to date
• Explore what will be done in the future to address that need

Dr Carl Sandom, Isys Integrity Ltd.

Managing human factors - the roadmap approach

Focussing on the HSE’s expectations with respect to the management of human factors, Eryl will address the key practical issues in managing human factors in the workplace.

She will explore:

• The role of Human Factors in accidents using case study exemplars
• Safety critical tasks and human performance
• The roadmap approach to the structured management of human factors

Eryl Marsh, Human Factors Specialist Inspector, Health & Safety Executive

Refreshments and networking opportunity

Integrating human factors into the safety management system

Human factors need not be restricted to the design phase. By applying expertise to all aspects of the safety management system, human factors can help an organisation understand and improve its safety performance.

This presentation discusses how human factors are integrated into the wider safety management structure within NATS, including:

• Validation of operational change
• Safety performance monitoring
• Measurement of safety culture

Andy Lowrey, Safety Policy & Assurance, NATS Directorate of Safety

Integrating human factors into safety cases

• Human factors in nuclear accidents
• Recognising human involvement in facility safety
• Reducing human errors within safety cases
• Ensuring good communication to achieve a watertight safety case

Alec Bounds, Principal Consultant, Nuclear Safety at ARCADIS UK

Lunch and networking

Planning, developing and delivering human factor integration compliance on a major metro upgrade

Modernising London’s Underground system, safely (and economically) shares similar problems to any other process industry which needs to keep operational during transition.

Introducing automatically driven trains using a new moving block signalling system and safely integrating them with adjacent legacy systems as well as the people who operate and maintain them, is a considerable challenge.

This presentation explores solutions used to achieve safety assurances supporting these changes, in particular:

• ‘Day’, ‘night’ and ‘very bad day in the life’ workshops
• Extracting operator domain knowledge
• Identifying potential human error in installation, operation and maintenance
• Training needs and operability assessments

Glyn Roberts, Roberts Consultancy Services Ltd.

Human Factors integration in oil and gas projects: designing-in safety

Human factors contributions to major accidents in the oil and gas industry are well documented. However it is only recently that industry-wide approaches for integrating HF into capital projects have been introduced. This presentation provides some practical insights into the management of HF in oil and gas projects, covering:

• HF challenges in oil and gas
• Integrating HF requirements into engineering specifications
• Identifying and managing safety critical tasks
• Industry HF integration model

Dr Ian Randle,  Managing Director, Hu-Tech Human Factors

Improving and managing human performance in safety critical tasks

Despite advances in technology within high-hazard industries, there is still a reliance on the day to day performance of personnel in maintaining safety, especially when involved in safety critical work. It may be obvious that safety depends on human performance, and that they need to work together. What is less clear is how the two can be managed effectively in practice, to improve and maintain required standards in human performance.

This presentation will explore an integrated approach to the management of safety and human performance, which focuses on:

• A risk-based approach to competence management and assurance
• Providing usable and realistic procedures
• Developing effective training for safety critical tasks
• Ensuring that positive gains in human performance are sustainable
• The pro-active measurement, monitoring and continuous improvement of human performance

Shona Watson, Senior Consultant, Greenstreet Berman Ltd.

Refreshments and networking opportunity

Panel discussion: Human factors: An essential systems engineering discipline?

• Human contribution to accidents
• HF cost benefits
• HF integration
• Human skills, capabilities and limitations
• HF methods and techniques
• Automation
• Human error / human reliability
• Usability
• Project management issues