Human Factors Team

The Human Factors team at RSSB resides in the Traffic Operation & Management Delivery Unit led by Richard Evans with Ann Mills leading the specialist team. There are currently 10 members of the team whose biographies can be found below.

Dr Ann Mills
Anita Scott
Fiona Bird
Sarah Hesketh
Mark Bendig
Ray Wicksman
Kate Bonsall
Cara Pilcher
Sián Evans
Toni Luke

Dr Ann Mills
Ann Mills leads the Human Factors Team at RSSB. Ann has an MSc and PhD in Applied Psychology from Cranfield University. Prior to joining RSSB Ann worked as a senior researcher at Cranfield University for 6 years in the area of aviation safety working on projects funded by the Civil Aviation Authority, Joint Airworthiness Authority, Federal Aviation Administration & Shell. Ann also has experience working in communications research and the psychology of brand loyalty when she worked for the National Opinion Poll (NOP).

Ann’s specialism is in human behaviour in emergencies and is currently focusing on accident investigation and identifying trends in human error.

Anita Scott
Anita has a Masters degree in Ergonomics and a degree in Biology. She is a graduate member of the Ergonomics Society and is working towards registered status.

Before beginning her role as a Human Factors Specialist with RSSB (2006), Anita worked for two years as an Ergonomist at the Health and Safety Laboratories (HSL) in Buxton. During her time at HSL, Anita was a member of the Pedestrian Safety Team conducting research and support projects in the fields of slips trips and falls and falls from height across a range of industries.

Anita is currently working on a number of research and support projects for the rail industry on topics including: alarms and alerts for train protection and train warning devices, accident investigation and root cause analysis and the formalisation of communications.

Fiona Bird
Fiona is one of the team Senior Specialists and has been a permanent member of the team since 2004. She has a BSc in Applied Consumer Sciences and a MSc in Ergonomics. Before joining RSSB, Fiona was employed by a human factors design consultancy working in the rail, consumer and aviation industries.
Since 2005 she has specialised in Vehicles Ergonomics and oversees the Engineering-related Human Factors projects, e.g. cab design, systems development. Her other professional interests include Human Factors design of working areas, designing for people with disabilities and promotion and integration of Human Factors at all levels (industry, project, inter-discipline etc).

Fiona is working towards Fellowship of the Ergonomics Society. She is a registered member of The Ergonomics Society, the Centre for Registration of European Ergonomists and the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

Sarah Hesketh
Sarah is a Senior Human Factors Specialist who joined RSSB in September 2006. She takes overall responsibility for all workstreams falling under the remit of Safety Management Systems. This includes human factors integration into RSSB's strategy for 'Learning from Accidents'. Specific projects she currently works on include:

Strategic roll-out of RSSB's new web-based Safety Culture toolkit and follow-up support to RSSB members;
Review of driver management processes;
Accident investigation;
Second train warnings at level crossings;
Fatigue and shift work issues within the track worker and freight operating communities and associated Good Practice Guide to Fatigue Management;
Production of a Human Performance Good Practice Guide;
Roll-out of practical resources for drivers to maintain situational awareness.

Sarah graduated in 1992 with a BSc in Psychology. She then worked as a Researcher for the Medical Research Council and University College London and also in a variety of Clinical Psychology roles. She completed her MSc in Applied Psychology in 2001 and since then has worked for Tube Lines, a Risk Management Consultancy and the Transport Research Laboratory.

Sarah’s particular professional interests include human factors integration, human performance, safety culture and accident investigation. She is a member of The British Psychological Society, Division of Occupational Psychology and The Ergonomics Society.

Mark Bendig
Mark has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and a Masters degree in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). As a consultant, he worked in the field of human reliability assessment for clients in the nuclear industry, although his experience is wide ranging and extends to anthropometric assessments and survey work. His interest in the rail industry developed when he worked on the West Coast Main Line Route Modernisation project before joining RSSB.

Mark is involved in a wide range of projects, from assessing the national implications for using a new technology that provides in cab signalling called the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS), to assessing the suitability of new optical technologies in the human perception of signals. He is also the technical advisor on a number of research projects and is currently leading ground breaking research that is evaluating the effectiveness of newly proposed human centred junction signalling techniques.

Ray Wicksman
Ray has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Ergonomics. He has worked as a Human Factors Specialist in the defence, air traffic control and railway industries in a variety of companies in both project and applied research. Prior to joining RSSB in July 2007 he was involved with the West Coast Main Line modernisation programme, where he worked on control room projects including Network Manager workload, level crossing operation and produced a style guide for Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI).

He is currently working on the GSM-R cab fitment project looking at HMI and general ergonomic issues. He also acts as HF adviser in a number of R&D projects.

Ray is interested in Human Factors Integration, HMI assessment and design, workload analysis, safety hazards assessment and usability testing.

Kate Bonsall
Kate joined RSSB as a Human Factors Specialist in September 2007. Her current projects include designing and trialling new methods of train driver selection, exploring the applicability of Crew Resource Management to the rail industry and evaluating proposals for actions to be taken in the event of extensive signalling failures.

After graduating with a BSc in Psychology, Kate worked as a researcher and project manager on a number of large-scale public sector projects. These included work on role development, teamwork and organisational change in the NHS. Following this, she obtained an MSc in Occupational Psychology and became a certified Level A and Level B occupational tester as well as registering as a Practitioner in Training with the British Psychological Society.

Kate is currently working towards Chartership as an Occupational Psychologist. She has a strong interest in safety culture, selection, organisational change, and the interaction between people and their working environment.

Cara Pilcher
Cara is studying BSc Psychology with Ergonomics at Loughborough University. She joined RSSB in August 2007 on a student placement year, before returning to university to complete the degree. She is also a student member of The Ergonomic Society.

Her current projects include occurrence, causation and impact of station overruns and failure to calls, as well as working on an adhesion management system. She also provides support for other team members. Future interests include learning more about occupational psychology and the rail industry.

Sián Evans
Siân joined RSSB as a Human Factors Specialist in August 2007. Siân is working on a number of projects to support the rail industry including driver selection, accident investigation and TPWS.

Siân has an MSc in Occupational Psychology from the University of Nottingham and a BSc in Human Psychology from the University of Aston. Prior to joining RSSB, Siân worked as an Occupational Psychologist at Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in the areas of training and simulation. Siân is working towards Chartership with the Division of Occupational Psychology. She is a member of the British Psychological Society and the Division of Occupational Psychology.

Toni Luke
Toni is a senior human factors specialist who joined the team in March 2008. She has a BSc in Psychology and an MSc in Human Computer Interaction and Ergonomics. Before joining RSSB, Toni worked in the Human Factors and Simulation Group at TRL where she specialised in the study of driver behaviour, eye movement and distraction. Toni is experienced in the use of simulation as a research method and is currently putting this experience to use in two projects; service recovery from extensive signal failures and justification of TPWS modifications.