Human Factors Issues Register

What are Human Factors “Issues”?

As a result of conducting human factors studies or analyses, a number of findings may need to be considered and/or addressed. On larger projects, a greater number of these “Issues” will require a formal approach to ensure that they are tracked and managed effectively. Issues may come from model reviews, critical task analyses, on-site inspections, documentation reviews and so on.

Note that human factors issues may not necessarily be safety concerns – they may be related to usability, efficiency or maintainability.

What is a Human Factors Issues Register?

A Human Factors Issues Register, or HFIR, is a “live” document, maintained throughout the duration of a project. If managed effectively, it achieves several objectives:

  • provides a formal record of the human factors issues associated with the design
  • considers the inputs required to manage these issues (including HF input)
  • captures information about each issue to support resolution.

The HFIR is therefore used to record information relating to a human factors issue, the action required, the close out progress and status. This electronic document is maintained and managed by the HF or HFE Technical Lead throughout the design. It is reviewed regularly with other technical disciplines to facilitate the progression and closure of actions to resolve issues. The number of issues that are Open (i.e., not resolved satisfactorily) is often a key indicator on major capital projects.

“Any HFE issues that are raised during the project should be logged, managed and tracked to resolution via the use of an appropriate issues register mechanism. For major and complex projects which require significant specialist HFE input, including HFE-specific activities, consideration should be given to the use of a standalone HFIR that is separate from other project risk registers and action trackers” (the Energy Institute, 2020)

The HF Issues Register enables an iterative approach to design. It supports coordination meetings between human factors and other technical disciplines. It forms a key input in discussions with representatives from the Company/client and their design contractors.

Along with the Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP), the HF Issues Register is a key document for the human factors specialist to refer to and maintain. It should therefore be created at the start of a project. At the end of each project stage, the HF Issues Register should be reviewed and formally re-issued to the project so that any issues that remain Open are progressed into the next stage. This document is essentially an audit trail for HF Issues.

The content of a Human Factors Issues Register

The HF Integration Plan will determine how the HF Issues Register is populated, how often it is reviewed and updated, and the process for circulating it to the wider project team. Furthermore, the HF Integration Plan will document how issues are Closed (e.g., who has final sign-off).

The HF Issues Register typically contains the following information:

Section 1: Details of HF Issues

  • Unique issue identification number (e.g., 001, 002)
  • Where the issue was identified (e.g., During the 60% 3D model review)
  • Issue location on the facility (e.g., Main Deck)
  • Description of the issue (e.g., Escape route obstructed by ladder landing and ladder cage)
  • Date the issue was entered into the Register (e.g., 10 Jan 2025)
  • Issue classification (e.g., Safety, health, efficiency, project delivery)
  • Consequence (e.g., Escape from platform may be impeded by obstruction)
  • Priority (e.g., low, medium, high).

Section 2: Actions

  • Responsible technical discipline (e.g., Piping and Layout team, Mechanical specialist)
  • Responsible person (e.g., name, company and position)
  • Target closeout date (e.g., 10 June 2025).

Section 3: Closeout

  • Update or closeout statement (e.g., Ladder has been relocated to provide the required clearance for escape route). If an issue has not yet been closed, notes may be included in this section to record updates, typically referencing an email [name, date, time].
  • Date closed (e.g., 28 May 2025)
  • Status (e.g., Open or Closed – typically highlighted in green and red).

Not all of the fields will be relevant for all projects, and so you should customise the contents of the Register for your project.

Typically, the HF Issues Register will be in the form of a spreadsheet and this enables information to be sorted according to columns (e.g., to show all issues that are Open) and to easily count the number of issues.

If a standalone HF Issues Register is not created, but human factors issues are integrated into an existing project risk register or issues register, consider flagging any human factors issues in this document so that they can be easily identified.

Further reading

Report 454: Human factors engineering in projects, 2nd edition, June 2020. Published by the Energy Institute and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP). Freely available from Energy Institute and IOGP.

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