Katherine Plant

• Doctor of Philosophy (Human Factors in Aviation)
• Fellow at University of Southampton

Air traffic control organisations played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic, working to ensure the safety of the air traffic that continued to operate, despite the significant decrease in the number of flights. Air traffic control organisations implemented various measures to address the pandemic’s challenges and these measures maintained...

There are increasing calls for the application of systems ergonomics methods in healthcare, although evidence for their utility and uptake is limited. In this study, 67 Australian healthcare workers participated in a six-month longitudinal study where they were trained to apply the AcciMap adverse event analysis and Net-HARMS risk assessment method...

As the UK's Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) celebrates its 75th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on our discipline's contribution, current state, and critical future endeavours. We present the perspectives of 18 EHF professionals who were asked to respond to five questions regarding the impact of EHF, contemporary cha...

Medical staff shortages and growing healthcare demands due to an ageing population mean that many patients face delays in receiving critical care in the emergency departments (EDs) of hospitals worldwide. As such, the use of autonomous, robotics and AI technologies to help streamline the triage of ED patients is of utmost importance. In this paper,...

This chapter overcomes some of the limitations of Chapter 9 by incorporating the online training resource into a wider training package and evaluating the training package in a between-subjects simulator experiment. Drivers receive no training, read an owner’s manual or undergo the new Level 4 AV driver training package (L4DTP: online training reso...

This chapter explores the training resources that are currently in place to teach drivers the tasks and competencies that are required to operate AVs safely on the road. Firstly, an analysis is performed on the methods that are currently used to deliver AV driver training in research studies. This analysis suggests that a combination of theoretical...

In this chapter, an online video-based training resource is developed to improve drivers’ mental models for when the Level 4 AV can be activated, and this is compared to the current AV driver training method (i.e. owner’s manual) in a matched pairs experiment. Drivers are matched on their locus of control, age and gender before reading an owner’s m...

This chapter summarises the training requirements for drivers of the Level 4 AV that have been defined in Chapters 2–7. This includes the content that should be taught and the methods that could be used to deliver an AV driver training programme. Finally, this chapter identifies how these training requirements will be addressed when developing a tr...

This chapter conducts a systematic literature review of the academic driver training literature (i.e. research papers) to understand the needs and challenges for drivers of AVs, investigate how these needs and challenges are captured in current manual and AV driver training studies, identify the gaps within this training and to develop a set of tra...

Since the introduction of Automated Vehicles (AVs) on roads, there have been a number of high-profile collisions, which have highlighted significant driver challenges. These include challenges associated with drivers’ trust in the automation, their knowledge and awareness of the AV’s capabilities and limitations and their reduced situation awarenes...

This introductory chapter will first introduce the background and motivations of this book. This includes outlining the different levels of driving automation, the benefits and challenges associated with Automated Vehicles (AVs) and summarising current driver training programmes in the UK. This chapter then presents the aims and objectives, outline...

This chapter applies the nine themes from Chapter 2 to five high-profile AV collisions, in order to understand the relevance of these themes and to gain insights into how the driver’s behaviour contributed to each collision and thus understand the potential role of training in reducing collisions of this nature in the future. By creating an interco...

In this chapter, a Training Needs Analysis (TNA) is conducted to establish the tasks and competencies that drivers need to safely operate the Level 4 AV (defined in Section 1.1.5.1). To achieve this, a Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) is performed to identify the overall goal and tasks that drivers need to perform to operate the Level 4 AV safely o...

This final chapter summarises this book by making links to the aim and objectives, evaluates the work in terms of its strengths and weaknesses and considers the theoretical developments in driver training, methodological developments in the analysis of the training programme, practical developments in the evidence to support its use, lessons learnt...

In this chapter, a Participant Observation is performed on IAM RoadSmart’s Advanced Driver Course in order to gain first-hand experience in a driver training programme and explore some training methods that could be used to deliver a future AV driver training programme. The primary author of this book undergoes six training sessions and video- and...

This chapter conducts a literature review of the non-academic driver training literature (i.e. course materials) in order to explore the presence of the nine themes from Chapter 2 and to investigate how these themes are captured in currently deployed driver training programmes in the UK. Although multiple methods and materials are used, this analys...

In the last 20 years, new theories, ideas, and disciplines of safety have emerged to address the evolving nature of safety management in complex sociotechnical systems. The literature increasingly recognises the importance of adaptation; whereby the people in the system use their skills and experiences to make continuous, real-time demand compensat...

Introduction A proposed Diagnostic AI System for Robot-Assisted Triage (“DAISY”) is under development to support Emergency Department (“ED”) triage following increasing reports of overcrowding and shortage of staff in ED care experienced within National Health Service, England (“NHS”) but also globally. DAISY aims to reduce ED patient wait times an...

Automated Vehicle (AV) systems are expected to reduce the frequency and severity of on-road collisions. Unless drivers have an appropriate mental model for the capabilities and limitations of the automation, they may not activate the automation safely or appropriately on the road, potentially leading to a collision. As such, a training package (L4D...

One of the arguments in favour for the introduction of Automated Vehicles (AVs) is that they will improve road safety by reducing the frequency and severity of on-road collisions. However, if drivers have a poor mental model for the capabilities and limitations of the automation, they may over-trust and activate the automation in inappropriate road...

This commentary paper will describe how the discipline of human factors and ergonomics (HFE) can help to close the gender data gap, which is prevalent across many domains and arises due to a lack of data capturing female metrics and viewpoints. HFE is a domain‐independent discipline that seeks to understand human performance and well‐being with res...

Considerable resources are invested each year into training to ensure trainees have the required competencies to safely and effectively perform their tasks/jobs. As such, it is important to develop effective training programmes which target those required competencies. One method that can be used at the start of the training lifecycle to establish...

Growing interest in “connected services” is set to revolutionize the design of future transport systems. In aviation, connected portable Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) would enable some of the traditional and more arduous preflight activities (e.g., route planning) to be conducted away from the flight deck. While this offers the opportunity to impro...

In 2009, Colgan Air Flight 3407 had a fatal crash in New York due to an aircraft aerodynamic stall. Previous reports had placed the actions of the crew as the cause of the incident; however, this work provides a sociotechnical systems analysis of the events that led up to the fatal accident. An Accimap analysis provides a top‐down systemic analysis...

Pedestrians, the most vulnerable road user group in road-transport system, are over-represented (about 49%) in road fatalities in Bangladesh. In traditional approaches to road crash investigations, only drivers' speeding and recklessness have been identified as the causes of road crashes. Some other factors e.g. poor road design, vehicle body modif...

Electric micromobility (e‐micromobility) offers the potential to enhance the sustainability of first‐ and last‐mile journeys in urban areas by reducing the number of private vehicle trips. As a new mode of transport, it is imperative that it is not subject to the same male bias that has been evidenced across our existing transport networks. An in‐d...

Road collision types repeat themselves, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where countermeasures are often improvised and implemented with little planning. At the Shahbag intersection in Dhaka, Bangladesh, speed bumps were quickly constructed at the exit of the intersection as an improvised road safety measure following the occ...

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) currently have no formal regulations developed specifically for their operation, as their regulatory framework is still under development. Rasmussen's Risk Management Framework has been used to develop an actor map of the current MASS system in the UK, to show who the actors, decision‐makers, and planners ar...

China is currently in a rapid urbanization phase, and road traffic accidents occur frequently, with vulnerable road users often being easily injured. Traditional road traffic safety research often focuses on environmental and structural safety issues or considers human factors as the cause of accidents. This study organized 30 vulnerable road users...

In this study, by employing the think-aloud model, schema theory and the perceptual cycle model (PCM) from the perspective of vulnerable road traffic participants, the current traffic imperfections of a target section in Wudaokou were analyzed to explore potential improvement measures to enhance safety. Specifically, the present study recruited 30...

Future visions of transport systems include both a drive towards automated vehicles and the need for sustainable, active, modes of travel. The combination of these requirements needs careful consideration to ensure the integration of automated vehicles does not compromise vulnerable road users. Transport networks need to be resilient to automation...

Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) are being introduced with high levels of autonomy. This means that not only the role of the human operator is changing but also the way in which operations are performed. MASS are expected to be un-crewed platforms that are operated from a Remote Control Centre (RCC). As such, the concept of human-machine te...

Human Factors methods play a key role in challenging assumptions, analyzing interactions, and informing decision-making in complex sociotechnical systems and organizations that manage safety risks. Structured methodological approaches also have a role to play in better understanding properties of systems such as adaptation. Adaptation is increasing...

Interest in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS) is increasing as it is predicted that they can bring improved safety, performance and operational capabilities. However, their introduction is associated with a number of enduring Human Factors challenges (e.g. difficulties monitoring automated systems) for human operators, with their ‘remoteness...

Human Factors play a significant role in the development and integration of avionic systems to ensure that they are trusted and can be used effectively. As Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology becomes increasingly important to the aviation domain this holds true. This study aims to gain an understanding of UAV operators’ trust requirements wh...

Engine damage as a consequence of foreign object debris (FOD) during flight is frequently caused by birds. One approach to minimising disruption caused by this damage is to provide flight crew with accurate information relating to the continuing operational status of the aircraft’s engines. Before designing such avionic systems however, understandi...

A large component of Neville Stanton's work has focused on situation awareness in domains such as defence, transport, and process control. A significant contribution has been to initiate a shift from considering individual human operator situation awareness to considering the situation awareness of human and non-human teams, organisations, and even...

Recently, ergonomics and safety researchers have turned their attention towards applying combinations of sociotechnical methods rather than using single methods in isolation. In the current research, a mixed-method approach combining two systems-based methods, Accimaps and the Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Process-Causal Analysis using Syste...

This study takes a qualitative approach to exploring the experiences (and differences therein) of individuals using either their car, bicycle, or motorcycle to navigate a ∼10.5 km urban route in a provincial UK city, with the aim of contributing to our understanding of the needs and requirements of different road users. Forty-six individuals provid...

Commercial airline pilots are required to make efficient, justifiable, and safety‐critical decisions when faced with adverse events such as engine failures. Although these are rare events, the consequences are severe, and the pilot response is critical. This paper reviews pilot decision‐making when faced with a dual engine failure on take‐off using...

Pedestrians are the most vulnerable road users in low- and middle-income countries, hence understanding their attitudes towards traffic safety and the pedestrian behaviours associated with those attitudes is vital. The current study identifies the factor structure of a self-report questionnaire on pedestrian behaviours and road safety attitudes and...

There have been a number of high-profile collisions involving Automated Vehicles on the road. Although car manufacturers are making considerable investments into the development of Automated Vehicles, these collisions may deter the public from purchasing and using them. Therefore, solutions need to be developed to prevent these collisions from occu...

Fatalities due to road crashes are rising globally, with the situation being particularly severe in low‐income countries. Traditional investigation methods have reached a ceiling in terms of reducing road traffic fatalities, hence safety researchers have begun to explore systems‐based approaches. In this study, two bus‐pedestrian collisions occurri...

Following a thriving delivery business and constantly improving road infrastructure and vehicle technologies, electric bicycles (e‐bikes) are becoming one of the most popular modes of road transport in China. Although e‐bikes are flexible and cost efficient, they contribute significantly to on‐road collisions in China. Therefore, this study focuses...

Although the physical and environmental factors contributing to road traffic collisions are often the most straightforward to identify, they may not necessarily be the most useful in terms of guiding road safety intervention design. From a sociotechnical systems perspective, it is the higher system factors that, if addressed, would provide the wide...

Technological advancement brings opportunities for enhanced information, support, and functionality within the flight deck. Whilst this has many benefits to the pilot and the overall safety of the aircraft, the practical integration of new technologies needs to be carefully considered throughout the entirety of the design process. The application o...

Road safety has become a worldwide public health concern. Although many factors contribute to collisions, pedestrian behaviors can strongly influence road safety outcomes. This paper presents results of a survey investigating the effects of age, gender, attitudes towards road safety, fatalistic beliefs and risk perceptions on self-reported pedestri...

As flight deck touchscreen implementation continues to rise, more research is required to understand how task performance is impacted by turbulence. Previous work found that for basic dragging gestures on a touchscreen, performance and usability declined, and workload increased, with rising levels of turbulence. The current study extended on this w...

Engine failure events during critical phases of flight are a rare yet very real possibility on commercial aircraft. The response of the pilots to these events is vital to minimizing possible adversity. New technologies are in development that provide enhanced information on the status of the aircraft engine after sustaining engine damage in order t...

In Bangladesh, pedestrians remain the most neglected road user group in terms of research and safety measures, even though they are involved in nearly 50% of all fatal collisions. In the Dhaka metropolitan area, this statistic rises to around 65%. To reduce the recurrence of such collisions, it is necessary to understand the underlying thought proc...

This article is a call to action for Human Factors and Transport Researchers to create a fairer society, by closing the gender data gap. The need for gender equitable research outcomes is put forward, and practical steps to further this goal are provided to ensure gender is considered at all stages of the research lifecycle. The journey of a volunt...

This work presents an overview of the Human Factors methodologies, and applications thereof, that can be utilised across the design lifecycle of new technologies entering future commercial aircrafts. As advances are made to the architecture of commercial aircraft cockpits, it is vitally important that these new interfaces are safely incorporated an...

Road safety strategies adopted worldwide have made significant progress in reducing road trauma, but have stagnated more recently. The situation in low- and middle-income countries is even worse with no significant decrease in fatality rates. Safety researchers have argued that adopting sociotechnical systems approaches is necessary to make signifi...

Considerable research and resources are going into the development and testing of Automated Vehicles. They are expected to bring society a huge number of benefits (such as: improved safety, increased capacity, reduced fuel use and emissions). Notwithstanding these potential benefits, there have also been a number of high-profile collisions involvin...

The introduction of temporary instructions to amend standard operating procedures, to address emerging safety risks, is an example of the well-intentioned decision-making that occurs every day in organisations that manage safety. These organisations typically assess these changes for potential risks; however, even simple changes can have unpredicta...

Seemingly erratic pedestrian crossing has become a major source of vehicle-pedestrian collisions on highways in Bangladesh, and across other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this article, we approach the challenge from a sociotechnical systems perspective by using the Accimap method to analyse a pair of time-separated yet interconnected...

The introduction and uptake of technology within road vehicles has readily advanced the capabilities and the functions that the driver of a road vehicle has available to them. While this has benefited the drivers’ productivity and entertainment behind the wheel, it has also heightened the possibility for distraction. Research into driver distractio...

The Schema World Action Research Method (SWARM) has previously been used as a means to explore the underlying decision‐making processes involved in retrospective incident reports. The approach has been fruitful in capturing all interacting processes involved in managing incidents. This paper proposes that SWARM may also be used prospectively within...

Advances in safety science point towards an approach to the management of safety-related risks within complex sociotechnical systems that focuses on the understanding of adaptation. The study of adaptation would benefit from the use of structured and formalised approaches at, and across, all levels of the organisational hierarchy (individual, team...

Degraded visual conditions present a great challenge to rotary-wing aircraft. These conditions can obscure cues used to interpret speed, location and approach. With such cues obscured, pilots must rely on in-cockpit instrumentation, increasing workload, whilst reducing situation awareness. When operating within degraded visual conditions, pilots re...

Dynamic Risk Analysis (DRA) is a continuous, adaptive process of risk evaluation that can play a fundamental role in the prevention, control and mitigation of new or changing risks in real time. In order to better understand DRA, a systematic review was conducted, followed by thematic analysis and the development of a network model. This model depi...

This paper studies the use of touchscreen displays on the flight deck, focusing on the usability of touch interfaces to complete panning and numeric entry tasks. Results from this study show that the usability of a drag gesture to meet a pan function, surpasses the performance of a simple tapping interface under all turbulent conditions tested. Als...

This present paper is to apply the Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Process (STAMP) and its corresponding the Causal Analysis using Systems Theory (CAST) as an innovative method to analyze a road traffic collision involving a goods vehicle travelling downhill ostensibly caused by a brake failure on a mountain road in Vietnam. The developed STAM...

This paper reports on an exploratory investigation of the influence of five different types of fatalistic belief constructs (namely divine control, luck, helplessness, internality, and general fatalism) on three classes of self-reported pedestrian behaviours (memory and attention errors, rule violations, and aggressive behaviours) and on respondent...

Road traffic collisions are increasing at an alarming rate in Bangladesh. Many have caught the attention of the public, and the administration and government. In this study, the Accimap methodology is used to analyse three high-profile road traffic collisions from a sociotechnical point of view. Sociotechnical approaches have gained popularity in h...

Simulations are utilised in various domains for purposes of training, research, education and entertainment. Continuing technological advancement, along with a striving for higher levels of immersion, transfer and user satisfaction has driven the design of increasingly complex simulators. Economic viability, portability and usability of such simula...

p>To date, vehicle manufacturers have largely been left to their own initiatives when it comes to the design, development and implementation of automated driving features. Whilst this has enabled developments within the field to accelerate at a rapid pace, we are also now beginning to see the negative aspects of automated design (e.g., driver compl...

The majority of cross-cultural research on traffic safety has investigated driver behaviour, yet in most low- and middle-income countries, where the weight of the road fatality burden is felt, motorisation rates are significantly lower than in higher-income countries. As such, this approach necessarily excludes large parts of the populations in tho...

p>The primary aim of this study was to validate the short version of a Pedestrian Behaviour Questionnaire across six culturally and economically distinct countries; Bangladesh, China, Kenya, Thailand, the UK, and Vietnam. The questionnaire comprised 20 items that asked respondents to rate the extent to which they perform certain types of pedestrian...

Objective To explore the types of errors that commercial pilots may make when trying to resolve a suspected engine oil leak using the interfaces currently available. Background The decisions that pilots make often have to be made quickly and under time pressure, with the emphasis on avoiding critical situations from arising. To make the correct de...

Recent advances in safety science point towards a different approach to the management of risk within safety-related industries that focusses on successfully harnessing the adaptations present within complex socio-technical systems. However, adaptation is a concept with a variety of interpretations that impairs the ability of industrial practitione...

The UK has one of the safest road systems of any country, yet road traffic accidents still represent the 12th leading cause of death. Although casualty and fatality rates have dropped dramatically since the 1980s, there has been little change in the past five years or so, suggesting that roads safety initiatives have plateaued in their effectivenes...

A serious road accident happened on Monday, 11 July, 2011 afternoon in Mirsharai sub-district of Bangladesh's Chittagong district, that killed at least 44 schoolboys injured many more when the truck in which they were traveling skidded off a highway and plunged into a canal. In this study, the AcciMap methodology is applied, an extension to Rasmuss...

Use of touchscreens in the flight deck has been steadily increasing, however their usability may be severely impacted when turbulent conditions arise. Most previous research focusses on using touchscreens in static conditions, therefore this study assessed touchscreen use whilst undergoing turbulent representative motion, generated using a 6-axis m...