Designing for Human Reliability (ePub)

Industry Working Group #7 (Human Factors) and a member of Working Group 1 of the UK Process Safety Leadership Group.

"Designing for Reliability shows very effectively how human performance can be influenced by workplace design. This is a timely addition to the human factors literature, given the relative lack of attention traditionally paid to the design stage of worksite construction. What is novel about this book is that it is not only about equipment but it also explains clearly how the working environment (e.g. arrangements of pipework, access ladders, gauges and valves) needs to be carefully planned with respect to the cognitive and physical capabilities of the human operators. Ron Mcleod skilfully illustrates just how difficult and expensive it can be to fix dangerous and unworkable layouts after building and manufacturing are completed. Moreover, he reveals how major industrial accidents have occurred with causal deficiencies in the work systems and equipment interfaces.......I would recommend this book for students on engineering, ergonomics and human factors courses. Ron Mcleod’s wide experience in industry, especially in the oil and gas sector, shines through the material. He clearly knows how to discuss human factors with practitioners." --Rhona Flin, Emeritus Professor of Applied Psychology, University of Aberdeen

"Ron McLeod’s book Designing for Human Reliability, in my opinion, fills a gap in the literature on HFE. As inspector for a major hazard company, I can confirm his statement' … there has been a lack of appreciation of the extent to which the behavior of people at the operational sharp-end (the operators on the workfloor) is shaped or facilitated by the design of the physical and the organizational world they work in'. I also believe that if more decision makers or the people who can influence these decisions read and use the content of this book, this lack of appreciation can be reduced. For this, the book is convincing by delivering the necessary theories and techniques accompanied with an abundance of compelling examples and stories which are spot on in supporting the theories handed over in the book......There is no doubt I loved reading the book. As a final credit: many "softer" topics in Safety I and Safety II were (up to now) too fuzzy for me, although I had read a lot about them. The fuzziness is gone after reading this book!" --Frank Verschueren, Labor and Process Safety Inspector

"McLeod’s book is an in-depth, structured, and careful exploration of human factors engineering—an HFE bible for the layman that also yields insights for those in the HFE field. The examples he provides demonstrate the complexity and multifaceted layers of human factors engineering, showing how organizational drivers can either hinder or support safety and return-on-investment. His concise yet in-depth exploration of a wide array of HFE concepts, with choice examples, had me rethinking incidents I thought I already knew thoroughly, such as the Formosa Plastics Vinyl Chloride multi-fatality incident and the Buncefield tank farm explosion. He shared new thinking on these events and others, expanding beyond a basic HFE approach into the emotional influences of design. I found myself noting many of his ideas for future reference....This book is a compendium of scientific and technical HFE knowledge, all wrapped up in one well-organized resource." -- Cheryl Mackenzie