In this column, William F. Moroney reports on human factors/ergonomics issues that have appeared in the press. Contributions are invited. Please send an electronic copy with references to wmoroney1@udayton.edu.
U.S. Army Crowdsources Ideas to Combat Sexual Assault Crisis. By Sarah Blake Morgan, Associated Press, February 26, 2021. https://bit.ly/3d8pF52. The U.S. Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps has a “Dragon’s Lair” process, which is a “Shark Tank”–like competition that seeks innovative ideas from within the Army’s ranks (https://bit.ly/3ruZ9bu). Dragon’s Lair provided an opportunity to respond to the Department of Defense priority to reduce the incidence of sexual assaults and harassment within the ranks. Currently, training mandates attendance at the Army’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program (SHARP) lectures, which utilize PowerPoint presentations in auditoriums with large groups of attendees (https://to.pbs.org/3w7y5Cp). Unfortunately, it is difficult to capture or maintain the attention of the attendees in this environment. Since the Army is currently using virtual reality to train troops, Staff Sergeant Shameka Dudley proposed using virtual reality (VR) to immerse troops in harassment/abuse prevention. The Army recently initiated actions to implement the use of VR training in this area.
National Defense Bill Pushes Pentagon to Buy Body Armor for Women in the Military. By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, December 14, 2020. https://bit.ly/39oXIoG. In 2015, the Department of Defense opened all combat jobs to women. The design and development of body armor for women has been piecemeal. This bill requires the services to coordinate their efforts and to share lessons learned. Also see https://bit.ly/3tVpHnQ and https://bit.ly/3fncMa9.
Top 10 Technology Hazards for 2021. ECRI. https://bit.ly/31qAABX. The hazards that have human factors implications include the following: complexity of managing medical devices can affect COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) emergency use authorization; fatal medication errors can result when drug entry fields populate after only a few letters; rapid adoption of telehealth technologies can leave patients and data at risk; imported N95-style masks may fail to protect health care workers from infectious respiratory diseases; relying on consumer-grade products can lead to inappropriate health care decisions; hasty deployment of ultraviolet disinfection devices can reduce effectiveness and increase exposure risks; vulnerabilities in third-party software components present cybersecurity challenges; artificial intelligence applications for diagnostic imaging may misrepresent certain patient populations; remote operation of medical devices designed for bedside use can introduce insidious risks; and insufficient quality assurance of three-dimensional printed patient-specific medical devices may harm patients.
Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2021. ECRI. https://bit.ly/3cutiDq. Hazards that have human factors implications include racial and ethnic disparities in health care, emergency preparedness and response in aging services, pandemic preparedness across the health care system, telehealth workflow challenges, improvised use of medical devices, methotrexate therapy, peripheral vascular harm, and infection risk from aerosol-generating procedures.
On Factory Floors, a Chime and Flashing Light to Maintain Distance. By Christopher F. Schuetze, The New York Times, January 23, 2021. https://dpo.st/3tVppxg. A small wristband-mounted location sensor provides both light and sound warnings when another sensor is within a prescribed distance beyond a preset period. These devices contributed to the success of national sports conferences sponsored by the National Basketball Association and the National Football League. The original technology was “designed to avert collisions between forklifts and workers on high-traffic factory floors. The system’s sensors would automatically stop a forklift if it got too close to a worker.” In this case, it was used to sound an alarm when players, coaches, trainers, or reporters not on the field of play got too close to each other for too long. Currently, the device is in use at more than 200 manufacturing and cargo facilities worldwide, reducing both people/vehicle accidents and exposure to COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).
Why Ships Keep Crashing. By David A. Graham, The Atlantic, March 27, 2021. https://bit.ly/2P8kOsZ. It is not uncommon for shipping containers to be lost at sea, but each year approximately a hundred big vessels are lost. When aircraft losses increased, regulatory agencies and the industry analyzed the problem and created Cockpit Resource Management, which evolved into Crew Resource Management (CRM). The classic CRM success story is the 1989 Iowa DC-10 incident in which the survival of 184 of the 296 passengers was attributed to crew coordination, while the classic CRM failure is perhaps the 1990 Avianca flight into JFK that crashed when it ran out of fuel, primarily due to failure to communicate. At sea, the ship’s captain is the ultimate authority, which sets the tone on the bridge and contributes to mishaps. This led the maritime safety community to adapt the term CRM as “bridge resource management, BRM.” Inadequate BRM contributed to the loss of the cargo ship El Faro (https://bit.ly/3wdZ1k0 and https://bit.ly/3szybR5).
Egyptian Authorities Say “Human Error” May Be to Blame for the Suez Crash. By Joshua Zitser, Business Insider, March 28, 2021. https://bit.ly/31srgxm. A 1,300-foot-long cargo ship ran aground and blocked the Suez Canal. According to Lloyd’s List, the blockage cost the world’s economy an estimated $6.7 million per minute (https://yhoo.it/3m8Ac4n). The canal authorities reported that the vessel’s last recorded speed was 13.5 knots, while the “maximum allowed speed through the canal was between 7.6 knots and 8.6 knots.”
Additional Links
Tiger Woods’ History With Ambien, Details of Latest Car Crash Raise Questions:
https://bit.ly/3szLhOi
Kobe Bryant Crash Caused by Pilot’s Poor Decision-Making, Disorientation, NTSB Says:
https://bit.ly/3frzBJM
OSHA Faults Pork Plant for Failing to Protect Workers From COVID-19, But Issues No Fines:
https://bit.ly/3u65OL0
Wearable Technology Bolsters Worker Safety:
https://bit.ly/2P5F1j3
Hardened Wearables Bring Help Into the Field:
https://bit.ly/2QONWpu
