Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems

The NETworked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (NET-HARMS) Although the systems thinking philosophy is widely accepted in accident analysis and investigation, it has not yet gained traction in the area of risk assessment. A recent review of over 300 risk assessment methods found that most focus predominantly on the risks associated with human error … More NET-HARMS: A new systems thinking-based risk assessment method

Our director, Professor Paul Salmon, and adjunct member Professor Neville Stanton are spending this week and next week contributing to a seminar focussing on the role of human factors research in understanding and optimising future defence systems. The seminars are being presented by the Defence Science and Technology Group in the lead up to the launch of … More Human Performance and the Intersection of Technology in Defence

Over the past few years Centre members have published a series of short articles outlining our human factors and systems thinking research via The Conversation. These quick to read and easy to digest articles cover various topics ranging from transport safety, accident causation, automation, corruption in sport, land use planning and urban design, and sports performance … More Links to all Centre Conversation articles

Why do research in football? Travel to any corner of the planet and throw a round ball to a bunch of kids and they will instinctively know how to play football. It is important to billions of people and plays a significant role in attempting to change the world for the better. Despite the bad … More Make football, not war

From July to October 2013, I was in Kenya, residing on the edge of the spectacular Rift Valley in a small hillside town called Iten. Colloquially known as the ‘Home of Champions’, the purpose of visiting Iten, aside from improving my own endurance running ability, was to witness firsthand why the East Africans were the … More Running away from reductionism: Why the development and prevention of distance running-related injury is a complex problem

At the Centre for HF & STS, much of our work focuses on the design of new ergonomics methods to better understand safety and performance in sociotechnical systems. An “ergonomics method” is essentially a procedure for coding and interpreting qualitative data through the lens of a particular theory. For example, Rasmussen’s Accimap is a procedure … More The problem of reliability in the design of ergonomics methods…and a potential solution

Here is a short video describing the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems, our work, our people, and our key areas of research. Enjoy! For further inquiries or requests for research outputs please contact a relevant theme leader

Regulation is under attack. In major democracies around the world, the main set of tools used to protect the public interest from the excesses of private activity is being eroded. The starkest current example of this is in the United States, where the Trump administration has taken radical steps to reduce the powers and funding … More A systems-thinking approach to regulation

I was more of a Batman kid. I mean Superman was cool and all but there was something about that menacing black colour that got my attention. Whether it be a firefighter, ballet dancer or cape wearing villain from Marvel, we likely all had our preference and I suspect we all still do. Maybe, just … More No More Superheroes…

Special issue of the Journal of Human Factors in Manufacturing and Service Industries on Sociotechnical Systems Thinking Sociotechnical systems theory emerged in the 1950s from a program of research that focussed on the disruptive impacts of new technologies on human work (Eason, 2014; Trist & Bamforth, 1951). Primarily a work design theory, sociotechnical systems is … More Call for papers – Sociotechnical Systems Thinking in the Manufacturing and Service Industries