Applied Solutions to Ensure Safe Human Performance

The project stemmed from the results of a 2007 survey to U.S. FAA airworthiness aviation safety inspectors. FAA inspectors said that they wanted material to help them make presentations to their FAA peers and to industry audiences. They wanted material that contained appropriate multimedia — like videos and animations — but also PowerPoint slides with organized content that could be edited.

HFPS is not a computer-based training system. It is for a presenter needing interesting and high-value topics, but not necessarily a complete human factors course of instruction. In many cases, company technical personnel have many valuable stories but not the accompanying instructional media. The HFPS provides a lot of the media and then the company can adapt it to their needs.

A primary goal of the system is that it lets you customize the presentation — adding, deleting and modifying slides as they relate to your organization.

The HFPS does not require a written user’s manual. The “Instructions for Use” video describes the system and its use, and is available from the launch menu. You can run the standard presentations directly from the launch menu.

The entire program can be loaded on to your own computer where you can make as many changes as your knowledge and creativity allow.

Creation — The Media and the Content
The HFPS covers a set of generic topics that blend a touch of basics with concepts that the presenter can apply to the specific workplace. It creates a forum to discuss major world aviation events as well as local data from a company’s error reporting data. It also provides information and Web links to ensure continuing education opportunities. HFPS includes the following main topics:

The HFPS uses easy-to-remember methods to apply human factors principles at work and in life outside of work. One example is the four-minute video on “human factors spectacles.” This segment provides a way to see human factors not only in the workplace, but also in one’s personal life. It permits the presenter to run the video and let it serve as a basis to discuss various ways to view human factors issues.

Developed by Bill Johnson and Mike Maddox in the early 1990s, the largest and most content-intense section in the HFPS addresses the PEAR model:

• People
• Environment in which they work
• Actions they perform
• Resources necessary to perform work

The PEAR model is a way for the presenter to explore a variety of human factors that affect work and life. The system lets a presenter provide as much or as little detail that they choose. For example, the HFPS has a video, many animations, and a number of slides that address fatigue issues. Fatigue issues are included in the “people” portion of the PEAR model chapter.

One Size Does not Fit All
It is a challenge to present slides made by another. The HFPS system offers notes for each slide, but presenters are not bound to a script or limited to the nearly 170 slides in the program. One of the videos describes HFPS as a “giant Lego-like collection of human factors information.” Use the blocks to build a presentation that works for you.

Availability and Distribution
The HFPS is available through professional associations, local FAA offices, other international regulators, and at FAA booths at conventions. Table 1 shows the best contact to obtain a DVD from your region. Be sure to include your full mail address and phone number with the e-mail request. FAA is welcoming others to help distribute the system worldwide.

The Work Continues
While useful products like Human Factors Presentation System and the Operator’s Manuals for Human Factors are helping many organizations today, the work continues. FAA, working with industry partners, is currently developing two additional applications.