Human performance in manufacturing tasks: Optimization and assessment of required workload and capabilities

This paper discusses some examples where human performance and or human error prediction was achieved by using a modified version of the Rasch model(1980), where the probability of a specified outcome is modelled as a logistic function of the difference between the person capacity and item difficulty. The model needs to be modified to take into account an outcome that may not be dichotomous and o take into account the interaction between two macro factors: (a) Task complexity: that summarises all factors contributing to physical and mental workload requirements for execution of a given operative task & (b) Human capability: that considered the skills, training and experience of the people facing the tasks, representing a synthesis of their physical and cognitive abilities to verify whether or not they are matching the task requirements. Task complexity can be evaluated as a mathematical construct considering the compound effects of Mental Workload Demands and Physical Workload Demands associated to an operator task. Similarly, operator capability can be estimated on the basis of the operators' set of cognitive capabilities and physical conditions. The examples chosen for the application of the model were quite different: one is a set of assembly workstation in large computer manufacturing company and the other a set of workstation in the automotive sector. This paper presents and discusses the modelling hypothesis, the interim field data collection, results and possible future direction of the studies.

Social Perceptions of Forest Ecosystem Services in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The forests of the Albertine Rift are known for their high biodiversity and the important ecosystem services they provide to millions of inhabitants. However, their conservation and the maintenance of ecosystem service delivery is a challenge, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our research investigates how livelihood strategy and ethnicity affects local perceptions of forest ecosystem services. We collected data through 25 focus-group discussions in villages from distinct ethnic groups, including farmers (Tembo, Shi, and Nyindu) and hunter-gatherers (Twa). Twa identify more food-provisioning services and rank bush meat and honey as the most important. They also show stronger place attachment to the forest than the farmers, who value other ecosystem services, but all rank microclimate regulation as the most important. Our findings help assess ecosystem services trade-offs, highlight the important impacts of restricted access to forests resources for Twa, and point to the need for developing alternative livelihood strategies for these communities

Addressing indigenous peoples’ marginalisation at international climate negotiations: adaptation and resilience at the margins

Indigenous Peoples (IP) are a critical and inadequately considered population in the climate change crisis. IP represent much of the world’s cultural diversity – and this environmental knowledge and adaptability should be considered a crucial source to contribute to global solutions. Yet IP globally face systemic discrimination and exclusion from political and economic power. IP face three tiers of marginalisation – political, geographical and economic – and these are also present at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Yet it is precisely this arena that IP can contribute significantly. Specifically, a) Environmental knowledge of IP can improve understanding of climate impacts at the local level; b) A wide diversity and capacity in adaptation solutions amongst IP can inform solutions; c) The relatively new workplan on Loss &amp; Damage, especially Non-economic Loss &amp; Damage (NELD), is particularly relevant for, and should be developed in participation with, IP; and d) Improved participation of IP at the negotiations constitutes human rights, including the right to self-determination. This paper presents observations and interviews from COP21 in Paris to present the case for a restructuring of the UNFCCC to improve participation of IP. We conclude with recommendations to improve the situation: 1) Promote IP to full member status at the UNFCCC; 2) Employ IP as experts in work-streams and decisions around adaptation and loss &amp; damage; 3) Direct and restructure financial streams, including the Green Climate Fund, towards increasing the autonomy and voice of IP; and 4) Ensure respect for IP and their rights and livelihoods at all levels of the negotiations, and decisions and programmes arising therefrom. </p

A multi-discipline method to assess the human performance in manufacturing industry for safety and quality optimization

Nowadays the majority of organizations operating in manufacturing field recognize the importance of including the Human Factor contribution in the industrial process optimization (Hong et al. 2007). Technical measures and work organization procedures have been optimized in order to reduce the defects and waste generation but the Human Performance prediction still represents for Managers a difficult task to deal with.The prediction of the human performances of all workers involved in a production system would help Managers in better allocating the human resources. In order to reach this objective, a model to quantify the human capability of managing a complex task in a working context characterized by a set of physical, organizational and cognitive factors was designed.This paper presents the preliminary results of a three years industry/academia partnership project to assess the human performance in manufacturing plant. A multi-discipline approach involving both technical and individual factors was adopted

Amazonia security agenda: summary of findings and initial recommendations

Amazonia’s abundant natural resources underpin water, energy, food and health security for the people and economies of the region and far beyond. At the heart of this nexus of securities is water. So abundant in the region, but now under increasing threat as industrial and agricultural pollution increases, and extreme droughts reveal a once unthinkable water vulnerability

Ecosystem services or services to ecosystems? Valuing cultivation and reciprocal relationships between humans and ecosystems

The concept of Ecosystem Services (ES), widely understood as the "benefits that humans receive from the natural functioning of healthy ecosystems" (. Jeffers et al., 2015), depicts a one-way flow of services from ecosystems to people. We argue that this conceptualisation is overly simplistic and largely inaccurate, neglecting the reality that humans often contribute to the maintenance and enhancement of ecosystems, as often evidenced (but not exclusively) in many traditional and Indigenous societies. Management interventions arising from Ecosystem Services research are thus potentially damaging to both ecosystems and indigenous rights. We present the concept of 'Services to Ecosystems' (S2E) to address this, closing the loop of the reciprocal relationship between humans and ecosystems. Case studies from the biocultural ecosystems of Amazonia and the Pacific Northwest of North America (Cascadia) are used to illustrate the concept and provide examples of Services to Ecosystems in past and current societies. Finally, an alternative framework is presented, advancing the existing framework for Ecosystem Services by incorporating this reconceptualization and the loop of reciprocity. The framework aims to facilitate the inclusion of Services to Ecosystems in management strategies based upon Ecosystem Services, and highlights the need for ethnographic research in Ecosystem Service-based interventions

Task complexity, and operators’ capabilities as predictor of human error: Modeling framework and an example of application

This paper presents the initial framework adopted to assess human error in assembly tasks at a large manufacturing company in Ireland. The model to characterize and predict human error presented in this paper is linked conceptually to the model introduced by Rasch (1980), where the probability of a specified outcome is modelled as a logistic function of the difference between the person capacity and item difficulty. The model needs to be modified to take into account an outcome that is not dichotomous and feed into the interaction between two macro factors: (a) Task complexity: that sum-marises all factors contributing to physical and mental workload requirements for execution of a given operative task & (b) Human capability: that considered the skills, training and experience of the people facing the tasks, representing a synthesis of their physical and cognitive abilities to verify whether or not they are matching the task requirements. Task complexity can be evaluated as a mathematical construct considering the compound effects of Mental Workload Demands and Physical Workload Demands associated to an operator task. Similarly, operator capability can be estimated on the basis of the operators’ set of cognitive capabilities and physical conditions. A linear regression model was used to fit a dataset collected in R. The estimation of task complexity and operator skills was used to estimate human performance in a Poisson regression model. The preliminary results suggest that both elements are significant in predicting error occurrence

Integrated monitoring of risks for Seveso plants

Design documentation, safety and security analysis, environmental studies, studies on organizational factors, product characterization, etc., constitute the knowledge base each process plant, with a higher or lower detail, uses for plant management. Most of this knowledge is often lost inside an accumulation of formal documents that are not made available for practical use, while it should be disclosed and exploited within a living model of the plant (updated in real time), to which the various actors should refer to make their decisions throughout the lifecycle of the installations. How to give a shared representation of the factory (state, history, behavior), in order to improve the reliability and flow of decision-making, investment, prevention, protection, crisis management? A Risk monitoring systems and knowledge management to be integrated in the architectures of the company IoT has been proposed, developed and tested in French national institute for industrial environment and risks (INERIS). The initial risk modelling embedded in the knowledge management systems, based on the bow-tie methodology to identify the barriers for critical sequences to the Major accidents and to assess their availability, to be used for decision making, has been here integrated with the Integrated Dynamic Decision Analysis in order to obtain the critical sequences of events, that include the operator contribution (in terms of errors and recovery), the barrier effectiveness and the plant behavior. The representation of the plant in the shape of sequences allow a more user-friendly management of the information and thus a simplified control of the coherence of the risk assessment modelling with the real plant behavior, and an enhanced decision-making support in the definition of plant control measures, both technical and operational. It also allows an easier integration of the data coming from the field, with traditional or new technologies, as virtual and augmented reality. The proposed solution is exemplified through the application to an ammonia storage plant

Detection of Mycoplasma genitalium from urethral swabs of human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients

Mycoplasmas have been suggested as co-factors in the pathogenesis of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The prevalence of urethral infection by Mycoplasma genitalium was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with urethral swabs from 35 HIV-infected patients at different stages of the disease (all of them were heterosexual men). M genitalium was detected in 2 out of 19 non-AIDS (stage A and B) patients and in a similar proportion (1 out of 14; 7.1%) of samples from healthy individuals. A dramatic increase in the frequency of M. genitalium detection was observed in samples of AIDS (stage C) patients. In fact, 9 out of 16 (56,2%) specimens tested positive by PCR. We found no association in AIDS patients between M. genitalium infection and CD4 count, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) p24 antigenemia or opportunistic infection

An Empirical Approach to Workload and Human Capability Assessment in a Manufacturing Plant

The Human Factors contribution in the scope of the industrial process optimization presented in this case study had to deal with considerations regarding the physical and mental workload requirements of different workstations and the capabilities of the operators assigned to them. The scope was to provide the industrial management with a better way to allocate human resources to tasks requiring different operational skills. The model developed and customised showed promises results for the case study in which it was applied but offers also a generalizable feature that can extend to other contexts and situations. The assessment performed can contribute to consider necessary areas of improvement in terms of technical measures, procedure optimizations and improved work organization, to reduce defects and waste generation. The paper presents a brief description of the theoretical and empirical approach used to assess the workload of complex tasks in assembly lines and the matching operators’ skillsets; furthermore, it also discusses some of the preliminary results of its application