Human Factors Team

The Human Factors team at RSSB resides in the Traffic Operation & Management Delivery Unit led by Steve Roberts 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
Sarah Hesketh
Ray Wicksman
Kate Bonsall
Sián Evans
Toni Luke
Vicky King
Anna Walker
Huw Gibson
Martin Stout

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.

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 Operational Experience'.  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.

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.

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.

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.

Vicky King
Vicky is studying BSc Psychology with Ergonomics at Loughborough University. She joined RSSB in July 2008 on a student placement year, before returning to university to complete the degree. Her current projects include human factors investigation of pan incidents, driver task analysis as part of T718 review of driver training programmes, and station stopping. She also provides support for other team members.  Future interests include learning more about human factors integration and the rail industry.

Anna Walker
Anna joined RSSB in July 2008 on a student placement year, as part of her BSc in Psychology at the University of Surrey. Her current projects include the development and trialling of new methods for train driver selection, reviewing the management of errors in simulators, and the occurrence, causation and impact of station overruns and failure to calls. Anna also supports the Safety Culture Toolkit and other projects.

Future aims centre around gaining a deeper understanding of occupational psychology, ergonomics and the railway industry.

Huw Gibson
Huw Gibson is a senior human factors specialist who joined the team in October 2008. Before joining RSSB, Huw worked as a Human Factors Consultant and as a research associate at The University of Birmingham.

Key areas of interest have been human error, in particular communication errors, classification of accidents and human reliability assessment. Key application areas have been the Railway, Underground Railway, Air Traffic Control, Retail Pharmacy, Nuclear, and Offshore industries. At The University of Birmingham Huw worked in the Ergonomics Information Analysis Centre, selecting and classifying from human factors Journals, Conferences and Reports for Ergonomics Abstracts. Huw has an MSc(Eng.) in Work Design and Ergonomics, a PhD in Air Traffic Control communication error and is a Member of the Ergonomics Society.

Martin joined RSSB in March 2009 as a Human Factors Specialist and is working on a number of projects relating to incident analysis, risk integration, cab seating, permissive movements and vigilance devices. Before joining RSSB in March 2009, Martin worked at Tube Lines Ltd working on a variety of London Underground projects such as the Heathrow terminal 5 project, the Piccadilly line upgrade and a number of station modernisations and enhancements.

During these projects he has been involved in design and development of a variety of Human Machine Interfaces, control centre design, rolling stock design, workplace design, Rail Vehicle Accessibility analysis, signalling and control system design and various station, track and depot system/equipment designs.

Martin has a BSc in Ergonomics from Loughborough University and his main interests are in Human Factors Integration, Accessibility & Inclusion, HMI design, application of Human Factors in Maintenance, and Anthropometry and Biomechanics.