Nurses Work System Optimization: Macroergonomics Perspective

The hospital work system as a complex sociotechnical system has been an interesting research environment for human factor/ergonomic researchers. In this chapter dimensions of nurses’ work system elements were presented and Macroergonomics approaches were pointed out to optimize the interaction between nurses and other system elements. From Macroergonomics perspectives, human factor researchers would be able to identify and categorize health and performance issues through a systematic approach. Researchers are believed that this approach was not shown positive results initially, therefore a low-hanging fruit strategy is recommended. Decomposing work system elements is a potential opportunity to track the balance in the hospital nurse work system by considering these elements for redesigning work systems and applying appropriate interventions

NURSING INTERRUPTION DYNAMICS: THE IMPACT OF WORK SYSTEM FACTORS

Interruptions occur frequently in healthcare work systems. Hands-free Communication Devices (HCDs) were implemented in healthcare work systems to support the interruption process. However, from a sociotechnical systems perspective, HCDs may introduce new complications and unintended consequences to the work system. Research gaps exist in investigating the complexity of HCD interruptions in the real-world context. This dissertation aims to understand HCD interruption dynamics in the nursing work systems, using qualitative research methods. The first study examined the major differences between face-to-face and HCD-mediated interruptions, based on 30 hours of field observations in the acute care setting. Three major differences included: (1) The available cues to understand interruptee’s interruptibility, (2) The delivery of interruption content, and (3) The options to manage interruptions. The results uncovered facilitators and barriers that appeared to influence nursing work in the interruption process. The second study explored HCD interruption dynamics in more depth. It examined which system factors impact the interruption dynamics and how they influence nurses’ decisions and performance regarding the use of HCDs, based on 15 hours of field observations and 15 in-depth interviews with registered nurses in the pediatric intensive care units. This study was framed by the meso-ergonomics paradigm and activity theory. A descriptive model of HCD interruption dynamics was developed, comprising of five proximal system factors, 17 indicator and moderator system factors, and four distal system factors. These system factors interact and create integrated causal chains to impact interruption dynamics and influence the nurses’ decisions and performance regarding the use of HCDs. Specifically, the proximal system factors immediately impact interruption dynamics, the indicator or moderator system factors provide partial inputs and contextual circumstances of the proximal system factors, and the distal system factors are further down the causal chain. The results of the dissertation provided the basis for improving the design of interruption-mediating tools as well as the nursing work system, to better support the HCD-mediated interruption process, which may ultimately enhance the quality and safety of healthcare work systems

Human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing in the Industry 4.0 context – A scoping review

Industry 4.0 revolution has brought rapid technological growth and development in manufacturing industries. Technological development enables efficient manufacturing processes and brings changes in human work, which may cause new threats to employee well-being and challenge their existing skills and knowledge. Human factors and ergonomics (HF/E) is a scientific discipline to optimize simultaneously overall system performance and human well-being in different work contexts. The aim of this scoping review is to describe the state-of-the-art of the HF/E research related to the industry 4.0 context in manufacturing. A systematic search found 336 research articles, of which 37 were analysed utilizing a human-centric work system framework presented in the HF/E literature. Challenges related to technological development were analysed in micro- and macroergonomics work system frameworks. Based on the review we frame characteristics of an organisation level maturity model to optimize overall sociotechnical work system performance in the context of rapid technological development in manufacturing industries.</p

Improving Business Performance Through The Integration Of Human Factors Engineering Into Organizations Using A Systems Engineeri

Most organizations today understand the valuable contribution employees as people (rather than simply bodies) provide to their overall performance. Although efforts are made to make the most of the human in organizations, there is still much room for improvement. Focus in the reduction of employee injuries such as cumulative trauma disorders rose in the 80 s. Attempts at increasing performance by addressing employee satisfaction through various methods have also been ongoing for several years now. Knowledge Management is one of the most recent attempts at controlling and making the best use of employees knowledge. All of these efforts and more towards that same goal of making the most of people s performance at work are encompassed within the domain of the Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics field. HFE/E provides still untapped potential for organizational performance as the human and its optimal performance are the reason for this discipline s being. Although Human Factors programs have been generated and implemented, there is still the need for a method to help organizations fully integrate this discipline into the enterprise as a whole. The purpose of this research is to develop a method to help organizations integrate HFE/E into it business processes. This research begun with a review of the ways in which the HFE/E discipline is currently used by organizations. The need and desire to integrate HFE/E into organizations was identified, and a method to accomplish this integration was conceptualized. This method consisted on the generation of two domain-specific ontologies (a Human Factors Engineering/Ergonomics ontology, and a Business ontology), and mapping the two creating a concept map that can be used to integrate HFE/E into businesses. The HFE/E ontology was built by generating two concept maps that were merged and then joined with a HFE/E discipline taxonomy. A total of four concept maps, two ontologies and a taxonomy were created, all of which are contributions to the HFE/E, and the business- and management-related fields

Managing sociotechnical risks in infrastructure projects : Sociotechnical Systems (STS) perspectives on systems

As systems become larger, more complex and integrated, the cost of failure increases rapidly, leading to a need for effective risk management tools. However, conventional risk management tools such as the ones based on hazard analysis or accident causation analysis have a narrow focus on either human or technical actors and on single causal chains at one organisational level. This led researchers to introduce the concept of Sociotechnical Systems (STS), involving the interaction of human and non-human technical components. The present study was conducted with the aim of developing ways of applying STS principles and STS-based methods to improve the risk management in large infrastructure projects. Initially, the sets of STS principles for the system design, which had been developed so far, were identified and then integrated and synthesised to produce a list of 20 core STS principles for applying them further in the current study. A comprehensive literature review of the work done in this field since its inception in the 1950s was then conducted, producing a unified list of 103 STS-based methods. These methods were then evaluated for their validity and visibility (occurrence). To identify and analyse major risks in complex infrastructure projects from an STS perspective, an observational case study of a large-scale collaborative design project at Heriot-Watt University was conducted, including running the surveys and interviews with the project participants. The aim was to find out if the presence or absence of the 20 STS principles and 18 associated risk factors affected the performance of the teams. It was found that the team performance was strongly related to the presence or absence of STS principles that was supported by statistically meaningful results of a quantitative analysis. The same STS principles were then applied retrospectively to a second case study, which was the construction of the Edinburgh Tram Network, based on documentary sources and employing the AcciMap and Abstraction Hierarchy (AH) methods. It was concluded that failure to apply these principles and the resulting risks could play a major role in the failure to deliver the project on time and within budget. Finally, a five-phase framework was constructed for STS-based risk management framework of infrastructure projects, with the guideline principles aligning the existing risk management framework with STS theory

A Practical Decision Support Tool for the Design of Automated Manufacturing Systems: Incorporating Human Factors Alongside Other Considerations in the Design

The way in which a manufacturing system is designed is a crucial determinant of its ability to meet the current competitive challenges. The existing literature and research findings draw attention to the importance of addressing human factors in the design of the manufacturing systems to face these challenges. However, the evidence gathered from the literature clearly illustrates that organisations are not fully incorporating human factors (macro- and micro-ergonomics) in the design of manufacturing systems. In addition, the current system design practices tend to relegate ergonomics evaluation to post-design, leaving ergonomists little opportunity to make significant and important changes. This thesis details a study which investigates the role of human factors in manufacturing systems design and how it can be integrated into automated manufacturing decision-making. Focus is given to the area of manufacturing automation selection within workstation and cell design. The aim of this research is to support manufacturing systems designers to better incorporate human factors in manufacturing systems design. A research programme has been designed to fulfil this aim. It consisted of three phases: industrial survey, decision support tool formulation, and practical evaluation. The first phase involved conducting interviews with leading manufacturing organisations in the United Kingdom to determine the work practice in industry and the need for' improvements. The second phase comprised the design and development of the decision support tool in a workbook and software application. The final phase was the evaluation of the tool in collaboration with industry. Overall the outcome of this research was a novel structured approach that deploys both the Quality Function Deployment and Failure Mode and Effect Analysis methods to incorporate human factors alongside technical, organisational, and economical factors in the decision-making process of manufacturing systems design, thereby allowing the consideration of human factors at the feasibility study stage