Designing for People
Police vehicles on motorways need to be distinctive for safety and security reasons and the blue and yellow ‘Battenburg’ livery now being used by police forces across the country is underpinned by high quality ergonomics research. This research has been recognised for its excellence by the presentation of the Ergonomics Design Award to ergonomists from [...]
As the enabling legislation is prepared for Parliamentary approval of the HS2 high speed rail network, an IEHF-accredited ergonomics and design consultancy, CCD, has been appointed to provide human factors expertise. Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the world’s leading planning, engineering, and program and construction management organisations, has appointed CCD who are using their expertise to [...]
It’s strange how we can invest so much time and effort pursuing something as ephemeral as the exhilaration of a ski run through the trees in perfect powder snow under a blue sky even though the reality all too often is icy pistes and poor visibility. Yet still we go back every year. The ergonomics [...]
There have been advances in the priorities of human factors in many sectors in the past couple of decades. Perhaps nowhere has this been clearer than in infrastructure such as transport, utilities and construction. However, it’s arguable that the greatest explosion of new human factors ideas, understanding, analyses, designs, standards and implementations has been in [...]
Over the past two decades, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have had a transformational effect on the use of navigation services by non-expert users. SatNavs are now almost standard equipment for the motorist and GNSS plays a large role in applications as diverse as agriculture and surveying. Largely driven by the inclusion of GNSS receivers [...]
It’s been twenty years since the implementation of six wide-ranging workplace health & safety regulations which came be known as the ‘Six Pack’. These regulations presented many organisations with a significant challenge: what do we mean by risk management? This approach of assessing, reducing and monitoring risk – what do we have to do? Many [...]
Energy continues to dominate the headlines, both in the UK and abroad, with constantly changing opinions on how to meet the ever-increasing demand for energy, and to ensure we “keep the lights on”. What remains constant, however, is the need for effective safety and risk management throughout all areas of the energy sector. Sourcing sustainable [...]
One in ten hospital patients in the UK suffers unintended harm as a result of medical error. A key contributing factor is that clinical processes continue to evolve but the design of much ward-based equipment remains largely unchanged. The Designing Out Medical Error (DOME) project aimed to better understand and map healthcare processes on surgical [...]
It’s widely accepted that one of the biggest challenges facing humankind this century is a changing climate. The potential consequences of rapid changes in temperature and associated unpredictable weather are leading to a fundamental shift in how we think about living, working and consuming. As ergonomists our knowledge and understanding of how people work, behave [...]
There are many demands and challenges facing those who work in the emergency services to which ergonomics and human factors can contribute. Whether you are an emergency services control room operator handling calls from distressed members of the public; a paramedic team trying to extricate an unconscious casualty from a toilet cubicle; a firefighter wearing [...]
