Developing a Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP) for major projects.

Introduction to Human Factors Integration Plans

The importance of considering human factors in design, particularly in the design of a major project, is widely accepted. However, for human factors input to be as effective as possible, this needs to be planned in advance and agreed with all stakeholders.

There needs to be some agreement on what human factors activities will be undertaken during the project, by who and how issues will be managed. It may be sufficient to record these activities in the project management plan. However, for larger or more complex projects, a specific plan for human factors input may be developed. This plan is typically called a Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP); although human factors implementation plan and Human Factors Engineering Integration Plan (HFEIP) may also be used.

What is Human Factors Integration?

Before we explore these Plans in more detail, let’s first understand what is meant by Human Factors Integration. In this article, we’re focussing on the integration of human factors within a Major Capital Project (MCP), such as the design of an offshore facility, the development of a new railway line, building a hospital, or the expansion of an airport terminal.

Human Factors Integration aims to achieve a number of objectives during these projects, including:

understanding who the users will be and what their requirements are (e.g., people involved in the construction phase, and the wide range of end-users such as staff, customers, visitors)
optimising the relationship between people and technology (to increase safety and efficiency)
reducing the likelihood and consequences of human performance issues during the lifecycle of the facility or asset (e.g., from design, construction, operation to decommissioning)
ensuring that human factors is formally considered as a meaningful part of the design process, in line with other technical disciplines
the identification and management of concerns or issues related to how humans interact with the system
provide documentation to support the demonstration that human factors has been proactively considered in the design.

The purpose of a Human Factors Integration Plan

To support the objectives above, a Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP) should provide an overall plan of the human factors activities to be undertaken – and more importantly, show how they will be undertaken in a timely manner than is aligned with the main project schedule. Human factors activities will be ineffective if they are not undertaken at the right time (e.g., the design needs to be mature enough to provide the necessary inputs for a human factors study). This plan or roadmap of activities and studies may be presented as a timeline on a single page.

The HF Integration Plan then provides more detail of each activity to be undertaken, so that all stakeholders are aware what will be done and when. The detail should be sufficient to describe the aims of each activity, along with the expected inputs and outputs/deliverables, and how end users will be engaged. For example, in the design of a control room, a Link Analysis may be used to inform decisions around which roles will be based in the control room and where they will be located. Inputs to this analysis will include an understanding of key tasks and discussion with operations personnel.

The objective of the HFIP is to describe in detail how HFE considerations will be integrated and managed through the project (the Energy Institute, 2020)

The Plan also outlines the human factors resource: who will be undertaking the various activities or studies. It will outline whether the human factors resource will be leading studies (and responsible for producing a report or deliverable), or simply contributing to workshops facilitated by others as a member of a wider team. Full details of roles and responsibilities will be provided in contractual documents.

Finally, as this is an “Integration Plan”, it should clearly describe how the findings from human factors studies will be addressed and integrated into the design process.

How to develop a Human Factors Integration Plan

The Human Factors Integration Plan is essentially a “program of works” or strategy for the human factors topic. For larger projects, this is likely to be a standalone document.

In order to develop a robust Plan, you will need to have a good understanding of the project, so that you can determine the necessary studies and human factors input. This may include background to the company, what they aim to achieve in the current project, where the asset will be located and how it is to be used. There may be initial plans for the level of automation (and therefore the balance of human intervention versus automated systems). Gather as much context as possible and summarise it at the start of the Plan.

The human factors activities to be performed for the project will depend in part on the scale and complexity of the project. Decisions will be influenced by whether this is a new-build, or a modification to an existing facility. Are there new or novel elements to be developed in the design? Or will an existing design be used in a novel context?

A group of six individuals engaged in a work meeting, focused on a presentation board displaying a flowchart or diagram, with a modern office setting in the background. — Understanding the end users and involving them in human factors studies is key

Several human factors studies will require details of the end users. As the project matures, you will be able to identify who these users are and what tasks they will be completing. For example, staff operating a facility day-to-day will have different requirements from maintenance teams. If you will be developing a HFE Specification for the project, this will be informed by the intended user population (including relevant anthropometrics).

If standards are to be used in the project, these should be documented in the HF Integration Plan (for example, international standards relating to offshore facilities or control room design). The Plan should indicate whether international, country or Company standards are to be used (and the order of priority), and contain a list of all key documents that may be referenced in the human factors studies. If particular requirements of these standards cannot be met in the design, the process for documenting these decisions should be outlined in the Plan (often referred to as the management of “deviations” or trade-offs).

Considering these kinds of questions about the proposed project (e.g., complexity, novelty, level of automation, applicable standards) is sometimes called an Early Human Factors Analysis (EHFA) and the answers gathered will help to develop the HF Integration Plan. This initial analysis will highlight the human factors topics to be addressed in the project (sometimes referred to as HF “domains”). For example, in the design of an offshore oil/gas platform, these domains will include communications, human system interfaces, alarm management, noise, lighting, vibration, emergency escape and evacuation, manual and mechanical handling, staffing levels, workload, fatigue and competence. These relevant key topics will drive the program of human factors work packages to be highlighted in the HF Integration Plan.

Engage with key stakeholders in the project team to understand project timelines and whether there are any constraints or dependencies that may influence the human factors activities. For example, the design team or end users may be located overseas, which will impact on the logistics of your activities and studies. Or, you may not have details of tasks undertaken by users until decisions are made about certain processes or equipment.

The Plan will also outline key project milestones, and the human factors input into these. It should be clear when any human factors deliverables are due (and what they will contain).

On larger projects, there may be a small team of human factors specialists; working within the client company, engineering contracting companies or as independent consultants. The roles and responsibilities of these specialists (and who they should interface with) needs to be clearly documented in the Plan. For example, the majority of human factors activities may be undertaken by specialists within the main engineering contractor, reviewed by an independent consultant, and accepted by the HF Lead within the client company. The coordination and management of the work program should be documented in the Plan, for example through setting up and managing a HF Working Group.

Identify other technical disciplines that may interact with human factors, as these relationships may inform the HF Integration Plan. For example, in oil and gas projects, I have formed close relationships with technical safety teams (often called “safety risk” or process safety), in addition to occupational health and safety specialists. Experienced technical safety specialists in these industries will have engaged with human factors on previous projects and are key stakeholders. The Plan may outline the need to provide awareness training for stakeholders that are less familiar with human factors and Human Factors Engineering.

The client or design teams may have undertaken similar projects in the past, and details of any previous human factors studies may be available to inform the current Plan. Lessons from the operation of similar facilities may also be helpful to develop the Plan. For example, previous incidents may highlight areas or tasks where human factors input is able to improve on previous designs.

A key objective of Human Factors Integration is the identification, capture and resolution of human factors “issues” (and being able to demonstrate this to others). Therefore, the Plan should outline the process for achieving this. Issues may be recorded in the main project register, or a Human Factors Issues Register (HFIR) may be developed and maintained by the human factors specialist.

Is a HFIP always required?

The requirement for a HFIP will largely depend on the level of specialist human factors input that is required (including the number and type of human factors studies or analyses).

The need for such human factors studies may depend upon several factors, including:

the complexity of human activities
the need for human performance to be highly reliable (e.g., for safety or efficiency)
novelty of the design
mentally or physically demanding tasks
the potential for major incidents
significant change in operating philosophy
introduction of new competencies
major changes to the organisational structure
a history of known issues with the design
the ability to influence the design (e.g., are most items off-the-shelf?).

Note that in some cases, a Human Factors Integration Plan may always be required by Company/client guidelines, or it may have been specified in the project contract.

The HFIP as a living document

A HF Integration Plan can be started during the initial scoping stages and continue through the development of the preliminary concept (the “Concept select” phase of a project).

However, the Plan is not a static document – its content should be reviewed at the end of each stage of the project to ensure that it remains relevant. It may be that a proposed human factors study is no longer required, has been postponed for technical reasons (perhaps the required inputs were not available), or may need to be repeated as new information becomes available. In this way, an updated and accurate HF Integration Plan is available at the start of the next project phase. This will be critical if different design contractors or human factors specialists are appointed at different phases of the design.

As the project progresses, the HFIP will contain key decisions or actions from previous phases.

During a large project, key human factors or project personnel may change, and so the Plan will be updated so that it is clear who is responsible for carrying out activities, studies and reviews. In addition to regular reviews at the end of each project phase, the Plan should be updated if there is a significant change to the project scope, a change in relevant legislation or applicable standards, or changes that impact on the planned human factors activities.

The Human Factors Integration Plan is therefore a “live” document that is monitored as the project matures.