SIG organisers: Richard Screeton & Ben McCaulder
Email: apeindex@madasafish.com
Over the coming years the nuclear industry will face change. Ageing plants will be decommissioned and new facilities are being planned. We need to deliver ergonomic solutions to new developments and assurance work to maintain existing plants. Our main challenges will include:
- Moving from traditional analogue control rooms, to user-configurable computer-based instrumentation and control.
- Maintaining situational awareness whilst increasing automation.
- Quantifying the effects of computer-based instrumentation and control on human performance.
- Producing Human Factors Post Operational Clear Out and Decommissioning safety cases.
We provide an independent forum for ergonomics specialists to discuss emergent issues. If this includes you, join us now.
Annual Conference: 23 November 2013, Bootle
The Nuclear Ergonomics Special Interest Group (NESIG) is holding its annual a conference this year at ONR’s HQ in Bootle on the 23rd of November. The conference will be free to attend and will feature industry experts speaking on topical issues currently facing the nuclear sector. This year we have talks from the following speakers as well as some yet to be confirmed.
- Jon Berman: Are people the answer to the problem – can we make a case for accident response and mitigation? SAPs and TAGs drive us to reduce claims on people, yet inevitably we do rely on actions as part of response and mitigation, particularly in severe accident sequences. But the demands on people during accidents are difficult to describe and quantify, and the factors affecting performance can be strongly influenced by organisational factors. Is HF in good shape to support Level 2 PSA?
- Dave Collier: The HSE’s Nuclear Research Index – what have we learned? David has been involved with the NRI in one capacity or another for around 20 years. What has it delivered for us? David will compare the HSE NRI now, 10 years ago, and 20 years ago, and draw some conclusions about what has changed in the nuclear sector’s needs, knowledge, HF capability, and cross-fertilisation with other industries.
- Brian Sherwood-Jones: Re-thinking cognition. This talk is a response to the theme of ECCE2012, which called for “re-thinking cognition”. Our portfolio of conceptual approaches and practical methods has grown significantly in the last few years. It is possible to re-consider which models are useful for which tasks. There are no signs that the context of nuclear ergonomics has changed, so any change in practice would be evolutionary. The talk will give a quick tour of recent developments with the aim of promoting a discussion on their applicability.
- John Lovegrove: A comparison between off-site design project design teams and on-site project design teams. This talk compares the efficacy of on-site (co-located) design teams vs. off-site (remote) design teams and looks to identify the factors that ensure a successful design.
- Richard Simcock
- Andrew Bardsley
It is an ideal opportunity to find out what is going on in the industry and to network with fellow ergonomists. Or if you fancy a change of career, find out what working in the nuclear sector is like. If you wish to attend please contact us.
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