An EDF perspective on human factors

• Published in: Conference Record for 1988 IEEE Fourth Conference on Human Factors and Power Plants pp. 65 - 68
• Main Author: Carnino, A.
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 1988
• Subjects: Accidents; Electrical safety; Error correction; Human factors; Industrial control; Man machine systems; Process control; Professional activities; Research and development; Risk analysis
• DOI: 10.1109/HFPP.1988.27478

The author presents the main lines of the program undertaken by Electricite de France in the field of human factors as a result of the incident at Three Mile Island (YMI). As it is important to be aware of some human characteristics to understand the difficulties and needs in the field, the following behavior characteristics are described: man is not a component; man functions through a single channel; man has a continuous need of information; man biases risk estimation; and man uses mental representation. It is remarked that the actions launched after TMI are man-machine interface improvement, operator training, crew organization, operating experience analysis, state approach development and emergency planning. It is emphasized that all these actions are linked to human factors. Also presented are control room studies for a new plant called N4, a 1400 MWe light water reactor.< >