Human Factors Websites and Links

RSSB
The company's prime objective is to lead and facilitate the railway industry's work to achieve continuous improvement in the health and safety performance of the railways in Great Britain, and thus to facilitate the reduction of risk to passengers, employees and the affected public. The site provides details of the company's activities as well as copies of Human Factors research reports.

OPSWEB
The site is made available to the industry to communicate wider operational risk issues and provide a platform for the sharing of good practice.

RIAC Human Factors Group website
RIAC provides advice to the Office of Rail Regulation on railway safety, exchanges information, comments on proposed new regulations and guidance and works to progress health and safety issues and other related developments within the industry. The (RIAC) Human Factors Working Group ceased meeting regularly in 2007, however the website provides useful information and guidance on a variety of human factors issues.

The Yellow Book
The Yellow Book web site describes engineering safety management for the UK's railways and has an electronic version of the Yellow Book. The yellow book also has a series of application notes, each providing more detailed, practical guidance on a particular topic one of which is entitled ‘Human error: causes, consequences and mitigations’.

Rail Research UK
Rail Research UK is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and provides an opportunity for academic researchers and industry bodies who are committed to working together more closely, to increase scientific knowledge in rail systems through co-ordinated research. The Human Factors research sits within the whole systems performance theme.

Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis System for the UK Railway Industry
The Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis System (CIRAS) is an alternative way for rail industry staff to report safety concerns that they feel unable to report through company safety channels. It is a completely independent and confidential way to report safety concerns without fear of recrimination.

Rail Accident Investigation Branch
Rail Accident Investigation Branch The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is the independent railway accident investigation organisation for the UK. It investigates railway accidents and incidents on the UK's railways to improve safety, not to establish blame. This website provides findings from RAIB’s investigations.

The US Transportation Research Board
A division of the National Research Council, the Board serves as an independent adviser to the federal US government and others on scientific and technical questions of national importance. Its mission is to promote innovation and progress in transportation through research.

The US Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Association
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) promulgates and enforces rail safety regulations; administers railroad assistance programs; conducts research and development in support of improved railroad safety and national rail transportation policy; provides for the rehabilitation of Northeast Corridor rail passenger service and consolidates government support of rail transportation activities. The FRA funds a significant amount of human factors research and this site allows users to download many of the reports.

The US Department Of Transport Human Factors Coordinating Committee
The Coordinating Committee's goals are to effect the development and implementation of a national strategic agenda for inter-modal human factors research and application in transportation and to be a significant human factors information resource to the transportation community. Much of their work to date has focussed in the area of fatigue.

The US Volpe National Transportation Systems Centre – Human Factors Division
The Human Factors Division of OPSAD resolves problems across all transportation modes by performing research to analyse the relationship between human behaviour and transportation safety and productivity. Research reports relating to rail Human Factors issues can be downloaded.

Transport Canada - Transport Development Centre
This link provides access to Transport Canada’s R&D programme which focuses on the human factors affecting operator performance and on the ergonomic design of systems and equipment. Covering all transportation modes, the research is designed to optimize the safety, productivity, and capacity of human-machine systems.

The US National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent Federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant accidents in the other modes of transportation -- railroad, highway, marine and pipeline -- and issuing safety recommendations aimed at preventing future accidents.

General human factors websites
The Ergonomics Society
Includes a Consultancy Register for those looking to source HF expertise.

The US Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
The society’s aims are to promote the discovery and exchange of knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings that are applicable to the design of systems and devices of all kinds. The Society furthers serious consideration of knowledge about the assignment of appropriate functions for humans and machines, whether people serve as operators, maintainers, or users in the system. And, it advocates systematic use of such knowledge to achieve compatibility in the design of interactive systems of people, machines, and environments to ensure their effectiveness, safety, and ease of performance.

Ergoweb
This site offers an introduction to ergonomics and case studies as well as a variety of reference materials, notably physical design.

Bad designs
A scrapbook of illustrated examples of things that are hard to use because they do not follow human factors principles.

The British HCI Group
The Human Computer Interaction group focuses on issues such as user interface analysis, design and evaluation; the structure of communication between humans and computers; human-centred hardware and software engineering; characterisation of the use and contexts of use for interactive systems; methodology of design and design management; innovation of new applications and products.

Sleep and fatigue
The Centre for Sleep Research
The Centre for Sleep Research (CFSR) is part of the University of South Australia. The CFSR is equipped with state of the art sleep and cognitive neurobehavioural performance laboratories, through which it conducts an extensive research programme. Research activities at the Centre focus on the behavioural and physiological determinants of sleep-wake behaviour; the biological and psychosocial impacts of shift work on individuals, organisations and the community; and fatigue modelling.

The US National Sleep Foundation
The National Sleep Foundation is dedicated to improving public health and safety by achieving understanding of sleep and sleep disorders, and by supporting education, and sleep-related research.

Sleep Research Online
Sleep Research Online (SRO) is a totally electronic, peer-reviewed journal. It is dedicated to the rapid publication of cutting-edge research in the fields of basic and clinical sleep research. SRO is sponsored by the World Federation of Sleep Research Societies (WFSRS).

Working Time Society

Aviation
The aviation industry also has links to useful Human Factors work. These sites offer access to research reports in a wide range of human factors areas specific to aviation.

Human Factors Research and Technology Division of NASA
The Human Factors Research and Technology Division of NASA is creating and applying a new understanding of how individuals and teams assimilate and act on information in pursuit of goals critical to the success of NASA missions. This site provides access to details of the department’s research, and downloadable reports. The main focus is on human information processing, human automation integration and system safety.

The Civil Aviation Authority
The CAA is the UK's independent aviation regulator, with all civil aviation regulatory functions (economic regulation, airspace policy, safety regulation and consumer protection) integrated within a single specialist body.

Human Factors on Aviation Maintenance and Inspection (HFAMI)
This site provides access to products of the Federal Aviation Administration Flight Standards Service Human Factors in Aviation Maintenance and Inspection Program.

Royal Aeronautical Society
The Human Factors Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society exists to improve standards of safety in aviation by promoting better industry understanding of human factors hazards and techniques for dealing with them. This site provides access to outputs from conferences and the various related committees.

General Sites
The Parliamentary Advisory Committee for transport
PACTS objective is "To promote transport safety legislation to protect human life". Its aim is to advise and inform members of the House of Commons and of the House of Lords on air, rail and road safety issues. It brings together safety professionals and legislators to identify research-based solutions to transport safety problems having regard to cost, effectiveness, achievability and acceptability.