When we search for causes of accidents, we often assume a binary: either mechanical failure, or human error, were to blame, and we must pick between them. But labelling an accident as caused by human error doesn’t teach us anything. It makes no effort to understand what caused people to make the decisions they did. From aviation and healthcare to energy and defense, understanding how people interact with complex systems is key to improving safety, efficiency, and decision-making.

At the most recent annual Thomas Hawksley lecture, organised by The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Professor Sarah Sharples, the chief scientific advisor to the Department for Transport, opened a discussion titled Humans and Automations – Safety by Design. In this episode, we hear her advice on how to consider the science of human factors in engineered systems.

Mark Young, Professor of Human Factors in Transport, was part of the discussion, and joins the episode to explain how cognitive factors like workload, stress, and situational factors all contribute to humans abilities to make decisions, particularly when under pressure. 

As we move into an ever more autonomous world, humans in many sectors are becoming overseers of complex systems. This creates a new paradigm for human factors, not just asking how to get the best performance out of humans in a system, but how to empower people to intervene when a system goes wrong.

Guests

Sarah Sharples, chief scientific advisor, Department for Transport 

Mark Young, professor of human factors in transport, University of Southampton, President of Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors