No. 544 October 2015 The Ergonomist The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors IMPROVING COLLABORATION BETWEEN ENGINEERS AND ERGONOMISTS THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDES FOR ENSURING SAFETY COMPLIANCE Conquering stage fright a virtual audience for musicians
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Ergonomist 544-October 2015 Information Security Leadership
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No. 544 October 2015
The ErgonomistThe Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors
IMPROVING COLLABORATION BETWEEN ENGINEERS AND ERGONOMISTS
THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDES FOR ENSURING SAFETY COMPLIANCE
Conquering stage frighta virtual audience for musicians
2 The Ergonomist October 2015
Contents
www.ergonomics.org.uk
Features04 Improving collaboration between engineers and
ergonomistsJudy Village
08 The importance of attitudes for ensuring security complianceAshley Knight & Ann Bicknell
12 Conquering stage fright: a virtual audience for musiciansTeresa Castle-Green
Also in this issue03 From the President
06 Journal overview
08 Feature
10 Early Careers Network
14 Events
18 Obituary
19 Institute news
20 Membership update
22 Recruitment
23 Ergonomics Everywhere
EditorialCelebrating Success
While it’s necessary to acknowledge the very
real and ongoing diffi culties that human factors
specialists have in ensuring they have genuine
infl uence in the organisations in which they
work, it’s also very important to highlight and
celebrate the impressive successes many of our
colleagues have had in varying fi elds.
It was announced on the 22nd of September
that Frøy Bjørneseth and her colleagues at Rolls
Royce won the 2015 Ergonomics Design Award
for their design of a ship’s bridge. The very high
New phone numbers for the InstituteMembership: 07736 893348
Events: 07736 893347
General enquiries: 07736 893350
For more details, visit www.ergonomics.org.uk/contact.
@ciehf
October 2015 The Ergonomist 3
From the PresidentErgonomics in the kitchen
One of my favourite hobbies is cooking. Working in a kitchen environment brings together many diff erent elements of ergonomics and human
factors. Last year we invested in a new kitchen for our house. Normally, when planning building works and alterations to the house, I have lots of ideas and am quite decisive. Not this time. I found the responsibility of designing a kitchen incredibly traumatic. I think this was partly because it was a reasonably expensive change to make to the house, but I also think I was very aware that professional pride was at stake. Imagine the shame when my ergonomist friends visited the house and spotted a glaring ineffi ciency in my design!Fortunately, eventually, I think we came up with a pretty good design. I was surprised however that there was very little explicit guidance from our very patient kitchen designer about ergonomics issues. Th e notion of the ‘triangle’ between the three most frequently used parts of the kitchen – the fridge, hob and sink – is well known, but apart from that, there was very little guidance. And when ergonomics issues were raised, they weren’t called that, they were just ‘good design’.So maybe at the CIEHF we should think about some resources to help people when they are thinking about ergonomics in purchases or designs they make. What makes a good backpack? What features should I consider when choosing a car? How do I tell if the
interface on my home entertainment system is well designed? Is the pushchair I’ve purchased easy to fold up and down?So here is a starter for ten: some ergonomic matters to think about when you are designing a kitchen. Physical: What’s the distance between points where you will have to carry heavy items, such as saucepans of vegetables from the hob to the sink?Cognitive: How well can you see diff erent parts of the kitchen from diff erent locations, to maintain your situation awareness? Do you understand the displays from the cooker well, and will there be people in your home who use the cooker and might benefi t from a simpler to use display? (Th e children were not impressed when I threatened to put a Powerpoint together on ‘how to use the oven’.)Organisational/Social: How many people use your kitchen at once? Is there space for separate areas for diff erent people to work in? Do you use your kitchen as a social space?I’d be really interested to hear from members about resources they have found useful when making big decisions about home design, and whether there is an appetite for developing resources from the CIEHF to support these decisions. Th ese resources would not only raise the profi le of our work, they might also prevent people from making those costly purchasing mistakes that I’m sure we’ve all made!
0804
@scsharples
4 The Ergonomist October 2015
Feature
Improving collaboration between
engineers and ergonomists
Judy Village
Ergonomists know that the earlier they can infl uence the design of systems, the more eff ective they can be in not only preventing adverse eff ects on workers, but also in enhancing system quality and performance. However, what is less well known is how ergonomists should navigate the design process, the company’s strategic goals, and the actors in the organisation to accomplish this early integration of human factors.Our three year action research collaboration with engineers and ergonomists in the new product realisation site at BlackBerry Ltd was designed to improve this understanding by attempting to integrate human factors into their assembly design process while at the same time refl ecting on and researching what tools and methods would facilitate this.At the beginning of the collaboration we found that the assembly design process had key performance indicators in terms of quality, delivery and cost but none related to human factors. Ergonomists in the organisation were responding to injury incidents but recommendations did not carry over to subsequent assembly designs, and ergonomists were unsure how to provide human factors information or design assistance to engineers.Th e researchers undertook numerous initiatives in attempts to learn where human factors could fi t within the design process. We interviewed engineers and made a map of the design process and decision gates to better understand where human factors might fi t. We interviewed engineers about injury, performance and quality metrics in the organisation and discussed possible human factors metrics. We participated in failure mode eff ects analysis (FMEA) meetings for early identifi cation of potential quality problems prior to design of the assembly process. And we conducted a cognitive mapping exercise with seven senior directors to link strategic goals to human factors. We learned that the main goal was to improve product quality and that directors believed workers had a key role in improving quality. We
used this knowledge to help frame and align human factors with the language and goals of the directors.Aft er more than a year of collaboration we found we had made very little progress toward our goal of integrating human factors into the design process. We realised that the ergonomists needed to learn more about the engineering design process, the engineering language, design tools, and the human factors links to product quality. Th e engineers were not aware of the ergonomists in the organisation, or how they could best use their expertise. Ergonomists had to make themselves more visible to engineers by participating in design meetings, and participating on the shop fl oor. Ergonomists also had to link human factors to the assembly goals of improved quality as stated by one senior director: “We need human factors incorporated with our deliverables.” As ergonomists participated with increasing numbers of engineers and directors, they discussed how awkward worker postures, high assembly forces, poor visual access to an assembly task, or lack of worker feedback about assembly connections could negatively aff ect assembly quality. Th ey were, in eff ect, aligning human factors knowledge with the strategic goals and language of the design engineers. Ergonomists got the attention of engineers and senior directors when they showed the integration of human factors was a means to help them achieve their design and business goals, rather than an additional burden. By participating alongside engineers in the design of a new assembly line, researchers and ergonomists realised that they needed a way to proactively help detect human factors concerns in early design stages, prior to parts and fi xtures being designed. Researchers were unaware of ergonomic tools that could assist with early identifi cation of concerns, so we began to adapt engineering design tools already used in the organisation to include human factors information. Th e FMEA was adapted with a new scoring system that indicated risk of injury
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Judy is Adjunct
Professor in
the School of
Population and
Public Health,
University of
British Columbia.
She conducted
this study for her
PhD in Industrial
Engineering
at Ryerson
University in
collaboration
with BlackBerry
Ltd.
She was recently
awarded the
Liberty Mutual
Award for her
paper published
in Ergonomics,
based on this
study, that
most advanced
the fi eld of
ergonomics in
2014:
J Village, C
Searcy, F Salustri
& W P Neumann
(2015). Design
for human
factors (DfHF): a
grounded theory
for integrating
human factors
into production
design processes.
Ergonomics, 58
(9), pp1529-
1546.
October 2015 The Ergonomist 5
or error on the part of the operator, alongside each potential quality defect. By participating in FMEA meetings, ergonomists could help design solutions to avoid human factors concerns while working only from drawings of parts, and potential assembly steps. Th e researchers also created a human factors design for assembly scorecard to compare early assembly tasks that had both potential engineering concerns and human factors concerns for operators. When the 22-item scorecard was demonstrated on a new assembly line, it successfully highlighted problem tasks and allowed ergonomists to engage proactively with engineers to fi nd solutions through alternative parts, tooling or fi xture design.Th e adapted tools successfully quantifi ed human factors issues and allowed comparison between tasks for benchmarking and target-setting. Th e senior director of engineering was so impressed with the utility of the adapted tools that they quickly became adopted as controlled engineering documents and made key performance indicators that engineers were held accountable for alongside defect cost, scrap and yield. Th e director was quoted as saying: “If you have something that can improve assembly quality, we can implement it fast.”Positioning human factors as a means to improve assembly quality by aligning it with the strategic goals of the organisation was a tipping point for the collaboration. Ergonomists became part of the design team, and were invited to all meetings with key sign-off at each stage of the assembly process. Appropriate adapted tools led to human factors being adopted in the design process and ensured sustainability of human factors in subsequent product builds.We have published the process for adapting engineering design tools to include human factors and the results of the action research collaboration process. We also published a theory based on the three-year collaboration that describes for this case study the process by which human factors came to be incorporated in the design process. Key steps in the process are: › Ergonomists needed to learn the engineering
design process, language and tools in the organisation.
› Ergonomists needed to strategically align human factors to the design and business goals in the organisation such that human factors becomes a means to improve business performance.
› Ergonomists needed to actively participate on the design team and on the shop fl oor demonstrating how human factors can help improve business performance.
› Ergonomists adapted engineering design tools used by the organisation to include human factors metrics and demonstrated the tools and metrics to senior management.
› Successful adapted tools and metrics then led to adoption in the design process by senior management so integrating human factors into the production design process.
When ergonomists learn about the strategic goals and how management view human factors links to strategic goals, they can begin to align and tailor information to help improve business performance. Ergonomists can then adapt engineering design tools to help quantify human factors issues, and more importantly to be part of developing solutions to prevent issues prior to design of parts, processes, fi xtures and tooling. When demonstrated to engineers and senior management, human factors will be more likely to be integrated into the design process.
Th rough ongoing refl ection among researchers and participants in this collaboration, we learned that the lack of human factors in the design process was not because engineers lacked interest in designing for humans, but rather that relevant information had not been provided to engineers in a way that they could readily use in their design process. By gaining an inside view of the design process in this organisation, and re-framing the problem as not being the engineers’ lack of knowledge, but perhaps the ergonomists lack of knowledge of how best to provide information, we were able to gain insights that led to the successful integration of human factors.We challenge ergonomists to continuously improve their practice by adopting a refl ective stance in their human factors work. Th is occurs when practitioners actively think about what they are doing and question the framing of the problem they are trying to solve, their tacit understandings of practice, their strategies and theories implicit in behaviour, and their feelings for a situation that has led to action.
6 The Ergonomist October 2015
Journal overview The Institute’s membership package includes instant access to
seven online journals. Simply go to ergonomics.org.uk, log in to
‘MyIEHF’ and click on ‘My journals’ to see the full list.
Each month we will list highlights and papers from a selection
of the titles.
Prioritising goals over safety linked with
high-risk driving
This study, carried out by researchers in China, explored
the decision-making and behavioural patterns of drivers.
Specifi cally, the participants were encouraged to get more
reward (shorter completion time) and avoid penalties
(less violations and crashes) during a Go/No Go simulated
driving task. The study found that it became challenging for
participants to balance the confl ict goals and make decisions.
In line with previous studies the propensity to make Go
decisions indicated a driver’s likelihood to take risks. During
the simulator task, high-risk drivers gave more priority to the
motivated goal than to safety concerns. These drivers took less
time to complete the task, but had more violations and crashes.
They also demonstrated more violations in their driving history
in the real world. The results suggest that risky decision-making
refl ects the intended risk-taking of drivers derived from a
deliberate plan, rather than other forms of risky driving caused
by low task capacities or furious aff ective responses. It was
suggested by the researchers that high-risk drivers might also
be involved in other risky activities, not limited to on-road
situations only.
Yutao Baa, Wei Zhang, Gavriel Salvendy, Andy S K Cheng &
Petya Ventsislavova (2015). Assessments of risky driving: A Go/
No-Go simulator driving task to evaluate risky decision-making
and associated behavioral patterns. Applied Ergonomics, 52,
pp265-274.
Study suggests that personalisation is
central to gambling site success
This study empirically tested s a stimulus–organism–response
(S-O-R) structural model that proposes that an online casino’s
atmospheric cues and functional qualities infl uence individuals’
aff ective and cognitive responses, which in turn impact
consumer behavioural intentions. Using self-reported data from
a primarily US-based sample, researchers from California and
Nevada analysed elements of the online gambling site stimulus
included high and low task-relevant cues, fi nancial trust and
gambling value.
The major conclusion from this research is an empirical
verifi cation that online gambling site atmospherics have an
impact on the internal responses of the gambler, which in
› The science behind codes and standards for safe walkways
› Using the Rapid Offi ce Strain Assessment (ROSA)
› Concentration on performance with P300-based BCI systems
› Reliability, performance and trust in adaptable automation
› Pressure distribution while sitting in offi ce chairs
› Eff ects of overhead work confi guration on muscle activity
› Eff ects of EVA gloves on grip strength and fatigue
› Climatic and psychosocial risks of heat illness incidents
› Evaluation of load carriage systems used by police offi cers
› Vertical ground reaction force assessment in fi eld situations
› Ergonomic evaluation of drywall installation
› The eff ect of rest break schedule on acute low back pain
Behaviour and Information TechnologyVolume 34, Issue 10, 2015
› Multi-touch tabletop technology to facilitate collaboration
› Aff ective forecasting of the value of a telemedicine service
› Defi ning UX goals to guide the design of industrial systems
› Usability and intentions to use electronic textbooks
› Determinants of online safety behaviour
International Journal of Injury Control and
Safety PromotionVolume 22, Issue 3, 2015
› Distracted driving: prevalence, problems and prevention
› A standardised mortuary-based injury surveillance system
› Pedestrian injuries in the United Arab Emirates
› Measurement of a drowning incidence rate
› Epidemiology of injuries in metropolitan Tehran, Iran
› Progress in preventing injuries: analysis of policies in Europe
› Child drowning prevention in the Philippines
› Comparison of unintentional injury patterns in 1978 and 2008
› Paediatric trauma in the USA: hospital resource use
› Risk assessment of maintenance operations
Journal of Sports Sciences
Volume 33, Issue 15, 2015
› Front crawl swimming: role of the entry-and-stretch phase
› Eff ects of cold water immersion on recovery from sprinting
› Repeated sprint ability in young basketball players
› Predictors of adherence to contemporary dance training
› The validity an iPhone app for measuring jump performance
› How should ‘hot’ players in basketball be defended?
› The impact of making-weight on performance in jockeys
› Eff ects of a short-term fatigue protocol on punt-kicking
› Reliability of data from skin markers after heel impacts
› Diff erences between back kicks and jumping back kicks
› Elbow joint kinematics and wrist speed in cricket fast bowling
8 The Ergonomist October 2015
Feature
The importance of attitudes for
ensuring security compliance
Ashley Knight & Ann Bicknell
One of the big issues facing organisations today is how to keep their commercially sensitive information and customer data secure. Last year, 90% of large organisations suff ered an information security (IS) breach, with 75% of large organisations experiencing a breach directly as a result of their employees’ actions. Th is is a problem for organisations because if information is lost, leaked online or falls into the wrong hands, it can damage an organisation’s reputation, can make them vulnerable to legal and regulatory problems and can result in signifi cant cost and revenue implications.To tackle this issue, many organisations have introduced information security policies (ISPs) which describe how information should be dealt with, employees’ information security responsibilities and the consequences of security policy violations. However, despite having policies in place, employees do not always comply with them.Much existing research has tried to examine the factors that infl uence whether or not employees comply with ISPs. However, measuring compliance behaviour is ethically sensitive because the identifi cation of poor behaviours could result in disciplinary action or individuals losing their jobs. Most research has therefore tended to focus on the factors that infl uence compliance intentions, since intention is viewed as a predictor of actual behaviour. A popular theory that has been used to explain ISP compliance intention is the theory of planned behaviour. Th is theory suggests that intention to perform behaviour is infl uenced by attitudes, group norms and feelings of being able to perform the action. While some research supports this theory and suggests these factors infl uence ISP compliance intention, other research does not. In addition, a key factor that has been shown to infl uence compliance intentions in similar domains, such as safety, is leadership. However, leadership has received relatively little attention to date as a factor that could potentially infl uence compliance intentions in the security domain.
To understand more about the factors that infl uence ISP compliance, a series of semi-structured interviews was carried out. Th is more qualitative form of data was taken in order to gain greater insight and potentially provide some clarity over how and why diff erent factors infl uence compliance. Th e interview questions covered topics relating to the infl uence of leadership, attitudes, norms and feelings of control on ISP compliance intentions. However, the semi-structured nature of the interview also allowed new insights to emerge. All of the interviewees were employed within a large UK organisation and had experience of dealing with sensitive information as part of their daily role. In total, nine individuals of varying levels of seniority took part. Th e interviews were transcribed and then analysed using thematic analysis to highlight any themes in the data.
Attitudes
One of the key fi ndings was that attitudes towards security had a strong infl uence over whether or not participants complied with the ISP, with more positive security attitudes leading to greater compliance intentions. Th e formation of these attitudes appeared to be shaped by numerous factors including: the perceived importance of security; the burden or diffi culty of complying; the likelihood of receiving rewards or sanctions; and their general awareness of the ISP.Many participants felt that security was important because of the type of sensitive work they did and because their organisation had placed a strong emphasis on it. Th is perception of importance led to positive attitudes towards compliance and highlights the need for organisations to make sure that security is central to the business. However, if the security processes were perceived as too onerous, participants reported less positive compliance attitudes. Th is resistance to performing diffi cult or time-consuming security procedures could be overcome, however, if participants believed that they would be punished for not complying, or if they felt that they would receive positive
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
Ashley Knight is
an MSc student
at the University
of Leicester. Dr
Ann Bicknell
is a Chartered
Psychologist
who is a Tutor
Practitioner at
the University
of Leicester and
development
consultant for
Ashorne Hill
Management
College.
October 2015 The Ergonomist 9
rewards, for complying.
Ability to comply
If participants felt that it was within their ability to comply, they tended to report stronger compliance intentions. Th is ability to comply was shaped by how diffi cult the IS processes were perceived to be. Many IS processes were seen as time-consuming or as a hindrance to primary work duties. However, if support was available, through easy-to-follow processes or assistance from others, intention to comply was increased.Participants also reported feeling more able to comply if the practices were dealt with regularly, but less able to comply if they did not have suffi cient policy knowledge. For example, some aspects of the policy were seen as insuffi ciently detailed, leading to feelings of uncertainty about what was expected of them. Th is suggests suffi cient ISP awareness is important for ensuring individuals feel able to comply.
Norms
Participants reported that the norms amongst their peers and colleagues had a strong infl uence on their ISP compliance intentions. Th ey reported oft en following group norms as a result of a desire to be part of the team, even if this meant disregarding the procedures set out in the ISP. However, if participants felt that failing to follow the process would likely lead to a serious incident, negative norms tended to be rejected, suggesting that a balance is struck between the severity of the breach and the need to be part of the team.
Leadership
Many participants reported that leadership indirectly infl uenced their compliance intentions by helping to shape attitudes, norms, ability to comply and their awareness of the ISP. Leadership appeared to infl uence these factors via three mechanisms: acting as a role-model; communicating about security; and providing appropriate resources to support and facilitate security.By acting as a role-model and displaying appropriate behaviours, leaders were able to act as a point of reference and remind employees of security’s importance. However, participants stated that they were only infl uenced by their leaders if they were visible in the organisation and if they respected them. Furthermore, if leaders communicated enthusiastically about
security, this was viewed as a sign of their commitment to security. Th is communication appeared to help convince employees of security’s importance. Despite this, more experienced participants reported being less infl uenced by management communications than newer employees, possibly because their attitudes had already been formed.Th is highlights the importance of instilling security practices into employees in the early stages of their career. Managers also helped employees feel more able to comply if they provided support with security processes and ensured their employees had the necessary resources to comply. Th is perceived ability to comply, in turn led to more positive compliance intentions and highlights leadership’s role as a facilitator of security.Th e majority of the fi ndings identifi ed in this research support the existing literature that suggests attitudes, norms and feelings of control infl uence ISP compliance intentions. However, this study also provides rich insights into how and why these factors might infl uence compliance intentions and highlights numerous practical recommendations for improving compliance intentions. Th ese fi ndings outline the importance of the way the ISP is communicated and presented and suggest that it needs to be clear and detailed. Furthermore, they highlight the need to make security central to the organisation, to make it something that is communicated about regularly and to ensure that the potential for sanctions or rewards is understood by all.A further key fi nding is that leadership and local relationships can play an important role in shaping ISP compliance intentions. Th is suggests that the development of appropriate leadership styles and team cultures should be considered in order to improve compliance intentions. Since relatively little research exists in this area, this confers valuable insights for a topic that will only grow in signifi cance for many organisations. Future research should continue to focus on how the attitudes and behaviours of the team and the leader can be critical in shaping compliance intentions and the organisation’s security culture in meaningful ways that minimise the risks of an IS breach.
10 The Ergonomist October 2015
Trust me, I am Virtual RealityVirtual Reality (VR), that is an immersive environment where
people can interact, has always been seen as a fantasy
technology, one of the tools possible only in fi lms, along with
fl ying cars and time machines. Indeed, a technology that
permits people to be in another world, where they can feel,
hear and touch an object is a system that was hard to believe
until few years ago. Fortunately, VR’s fate has seen a diff erent
path from fl ying cars and time machines, and we can, today,
experience this technology.
VR is currently employed in fi elds such as psychology for phobia
treatments, medicine for pain reduction, training for pilots
and in industries such as automotive. The reason why VR is so
widely implemented is that it permits the users to be in a world
that would be diffi cult to replicate in real life.
For example, in the case of pilot training, the possibility
to carry out the fi rst phases of training in a virtual plane
eliminates the danger, cost and the time of using a real
plane. In the case of phobia treatments, VR can show a
threatening object, that the patient can touch and hear, with
the advantage of having a fake, and less stressful, experience.
This is a huge advance in terms of technology and innovation
and can potentially assist users and workers while helping
businesses save money and time.
However, as is the case for all new technologies, there are
some issues when implementing a new system in a work
practice. Among the problems that could appear, I focused my
research on the issue of trust. In the correct implementation
of a system, one of the most important preconditions is that
the actual users are willing to rely on it. We can think of VR as a
co-worker: if you don’t trust your colleague, working with them
would result in a diffi cult and sometimes counter-productive
situation. Exactly the same thing can happen with technology.
Despite the fact that trust in a person and in a system are
equally important in jobs now, the process of relying on a
person or on a technology is diff erent. When relying on another
person, the response of that person is part of the decision to
trust (that is, do they trust me back?), but this is not true for
technologies, since a system cannot respond back in the same
way.
This lack of response means that there has to be another type of
theory related to trust in technology, diff erent from the one of
trust in people. Therefore, I decided to develop a framework to
investigate what characteristics a system must have to in order
to be trustworthy and improve the eff ectiveness of the users
who are using it.
My framework hypothesis is that to make a VR system
trustworthy it has to be usable, accepted and as similar as
possible to the real world.
As can be deduced from this description, my research is not
about inventing a new system. I am trying to improve an
already existing technology, trying to solve an extremely
important issue such as trust, in order to help the correct
implementation of VR, leading to a more productive and
successful work practice. Indeed, a system is useless if this
system is not built following human needs and the right
processes. As Craig Federighi, Apple’s Vice President of software
engineering recently said: “New is easy, right is hard”.
Davide Salanitri
Davide Salanitri has a Masters in psychology from the University
of Padua, Italy and is currently a PhD student at The University
of Nottingham for the project: “Trust in Virtual Reality”. He
would like to acknowledge Jaguar Land Rover for co-funding the
research work on which this piece is based.
The PhD Blogby Steph Eaves
This month has been all about the writing
up of my thesis. I had a short assessment
meeting with my internal assessor, Professor Sue Hignett which
allowed me to successfully pass through into my fourth and
fi nal ‘writing up’ year of my PhD. We have provisionally agreed
that my hand in date will be early December and my viva will
be arranged for some time in early January!
During this time, a whole new cohort of students arrived at
Loughborough University. In addition to completing my PhD I
am also a sub-warden for Elvyn Richards Hall of Residence. This
means that I live in Hall with the students, both new freshers
and returning second and third years.
Along with two other PhD students, I am responsible for the
wellbeing of the students. I help with pastoral issues, fi rst aid,
fi re alarms and the general running of the Hall.
So along with writing up, it’s been fantastic to welcome
hundreds of new students into the bubble that is
Loughborough University!
I have one chapter left to write, and then my thesis will be in its
draft format. It’s hard to believe how quickly this time has come
around, it seems like only yesterday that I was walking around
the Design School on my induction on the fi rst day of my PhD
studies, listening to the advice from other students.
I wish I had listened and had written more over the past years.
Although I feel pleased that I did write some things, I would
urge new PhD students to write down everything you think of!
Your future self will thank you for it – I promise!
Early Careers Network
October 2015 The Ergonomist 11
The impact of students at the IEA CongressAustralians call Melbourne the city of four-seasons-in-one-day.
Yet as ergonomists from around the world converged in our
city, a week of uncharacteristically sunny weather emerged
too. From the offi ng, the tone was set for the IEA 2015 19th
Triennial Congress in August. Our six days were dense with
learning and socialising, as many delegates were reunited with
familiar friends and colleagues.
An energy of enthusiasm greeted us right from the welcome
drinks. The opening of the congress included an Indigenous
Elder welcoming us to their country and the delegation being
taught the correct pronunciation of “g’day”. For students,
the congress held particular promise of new and important
connections.
We began the week with social events specifi cally for students
(including a student lunch and dinner). Here, we mingled with
peers from Australia, New Zealand, North America, France,
Germany, Ukraine, Sweden, Japan, Malaysia, Croatia, Columbia
and Denmark.
Students also shared their work in a range of presentations.
This included a student-lead study exploring the experiences
of student engagement in IEA federated societies. The Three
Minute Thesis (3MT) competition was also a highlight on
the IEA student calendar. Nine of us battled it out to share
our thesis in just three minutes. Topics ranged from work/
life balance, to better back health, and consideration of wrist
angles.
The excitement of meeting new people and travelling abroad
may be reason enough for students to attend an IEA congress.
However, from personal experience, it seems a stronger
underlying purpose exists for our presence at such events. In
fact, my whole ergonomics journey began at an international
congress.
I spent the fi rst 18 months of my undergraduate training
fearing I had made a mistake. Speech Pathology and I did not
seem to fi t. Despite this, I won a university student prize to
attend Speech Pathology’s equivalent of the IEA congress. Here,
a 15 minute presentation on the third day of the congress was
to alter my academic and career trajectory for the better.
A researcher called Erki Vilkman spoke about Vocal Ergonomics.
As I listened to him explain what human factors was (in the
context of voice), I began to realise exactly what I wanted to do.
This ergonomics thing sounded amazing and I wanted in. I have
attended many conferences since then including the CIEHF’s
2015 conference in Daventry. Each time, I seem to gain clarity
on what I want to pursue and why it should matter to others.
Conferences have a way of anchoring the goals and ideas of
students into what could be the future of our profession, which
can be career defi ning. It is also evident in our profession
that not all students are ‘35 and under’. Most of us come with
another occupation or training background. Conferences
provide a safe space for students to explore how their non-
human factors qualifi cations fi t with ergonomics. They also
provide spaces for established ergonomists to see the new
connections ergonomics and human factors is making.
So other than allowing students to ‘fi nd their tribe’, what
are the benefi ts for our profession in supporting student
conference attendance? Many occupations tout that students
are the future of their profession. I would argue that this
is keenly true in the global ergonomics and human factors
community. While often resource poor, students are typically
far more time rich than established ergonomists.
At international events, such as the IEA congress, we are also
ambassadors. We showcase the strengths of our institutions,
along with the strengths of our societies. These links benefi t
the discipline far more broadly than just helping out students.
If my peers at the IEA congress are the yard stick, students are
also enthusiastic to embrace current and future initiatives of
the profession. This was highlighted by the student initiated
meetings with IEA executive members where future global
engagement of students and early career ergonomists were
discussed. From these meetings, a preliminary report was
tabled to the IEA executive, including how students and early
career ergonomists (ECE) can directly enrich our profession:
Specifi cally, it is envisaged that students/ECE will assist in
the fi delity of supporting engagement at local and global
levels of the ergonomics profession. This will allow the direct
enrichment and future sustainability of federated societies,
and the IEA as a whole. Further, through engagement with
this demographic of IEA members, opportunities for outreach
to support communities can be cultivated. The enhanced
engagement with these members can also strengthen the
advancement of research and links of ergonomics with other
disciplines.
Attendance at international events fosters more than just
networking opportunities for CIEHF student members. It also
provides us opportunities to have a global presence. When this
is coupled with CIEHF’s ethos of supporting student and early
career ergonomists, being part of our tribe is an exciting place
to be.
Katie Buckley
12 The Ergonomist October 2015
Feature
Conquering stage fright: a virtual
audience for musicians
Teresa Castle-Green
Music performance anxiety can have debilitating consequences for performers, aff ecting their confi dence levels and preventing them from delivering performances to the normal standards of which they are capable. As a performer in an acoustic duo myself, I have experienced stage fright fi rst hand, from nausea before performances to physical shaking on stage. It is something that I have learned to live with and am gradually getting over with increased experience. Th is is not an unfamiliar story within music circles; a large number of musicians struggle with stage fright throughout their careers. Surveys have found as many as 70% of musicians report experiencing anxiety that has impacted performances. Musical performance requires complex cognitive and sensorimotor skills, which can be greatly aff ected by the body’s fear responses. Shaking, sweating and feeling nauseous is not conducive to delivering a fl awless performance. Many musicians learn to manage their anxiety as they gain experience of performing on stage, but for others it can continue to be a problem throughout their entire lives. Th ere are numerous reports of amateur, student and professional musicians turning to self-medication of alcohol and drugs. Beta-blockers are oft en prescribed and others turn to cognitive behavioural therapy or hypnosis to overcome anxiety levels enough to enable them to continue performing music on stage. In some cases the fear of performing is so strong that it prevents budding musicians from even attempting to get up on stage to do what they love. Seeing and experiencing this problem fi rst hand led to my desire to focus my research on the use of technology within this domain.
Exposure therapy
A review of music performance anxiety literature revealed a number of potential causal factors. Th ese include situational variables, such as the presence of an audience, performer competence levels, trait anxiety and the complexity of the material being played. Th e most positive results in terms of treatment
research have been shown in relation to cognitive and behaviour therapies including the use of exposure therapy. In related fi elds virtual reality has been demonstrated as a useful tool in exposure therapy off ering therapists access to situations and contexts that would otherwise be unachievable. Th is led to the question of whether a virtual audience would be a useful tool in exposure therapy for stage fright. Research into the fear of public speaking has used virtual audiences and has shown promising results. Participants have reported increased anxiety levels and lower perceived performance ratings as a result of negative audience reactions. Other research found positive results from the use of a virtual audience for graded exposure on saxophone players within the educational context. Th is limited amount of related research led to the question: would these results be refl ected in the context of musicians performing at a virtual music festival?
The Virtual Music Festival
Before the virtual audience design could get underway I needed to expand on my own knowledge and gain a deeper understanding of performers’ experiences of stage fright. Interviews with experienced performers uncovered a number of potential causal factors relating to audience approval and performer confi dence levels. A literature review of audience behaviour expanded on this to ensure that a strong element of realism was captured within the design of the audience. I discovered that large crowds and audiences are surprisingly organised, with social norms being adhered to, right down to the length of the applause.Th e Virtual Music Festival was designed and developed to be delivered through a head-mounted display to allow musicians to play on a virtual stage in front of a computer-generated audience. A festival ambience was created with people milling around near the bar tent and people walking along a road in the distance. Campsites, burger vans, large shop tents, security guards and large speaker systems were
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Teresa Castle-
Green is a
psychology
graduate
who has just
completed an
MSc in Human-
Computer
Interaction at
the University of
Nottingham and
is now pursuing a
career in HC I.
October 2015 The Ergonomist 13
also included to add to the realism of the setting. I created three diff erent audience conditions delivering approval feedback through audience movement to provide a positive, neutral and negative experience to performers. At the start of each condition there were 40 people located in front of the stage, waiting in anticipation for the music to start. Once the music started they gave some initial applause and then began to dance and move as though watching the music.During the neutral condition the audience size remained the same throughout. Th e positive feedback condition saw the audience size increase by a further 30 people, to 70 and the negative condition saw 30 people leave reducing the audience size to just 10. Th e movement of the people to and from the stage area was completed gradually within a three minute time period to ensure that the full condition was experienced before the end of an average length song.Audience applause was also used as visual and audio feedback. Research into political speeches has shown that ‘normal’ applause to show appreciation at the start and during speeches lasts for eight seconds. It is thought that anything longer than that is very appreciative and anything shorter is lukewarm in its appreciation level. I used this research to set the length of the initial applause for each condition. Th e neutral had eight seconds, the positive had ten and the negative had only six. I managed to fi nd 11 musicians from local open mic nights and street buskers who were willing to play an instrument and sing to my virtual audience. Each musician performed six songs in total, three that they knew well and three that they had recently learnt or had not performed live before, all whilst wired up to a virtual reality system. Th e performers’ guitar and microphone were plugged in to a mixing desk allowing it to be combined with the audio from the application on the computer. Noise cancelling earphones were used to cut out any background noise so the musicians could only hear themselves and their audience. Aft er performing each song they completed a questionnaire containing measures for state anxiety, a rating of how well they thought the performance went from 0-100 and copresence questions to evaluate the perceived interaction between the performer and the audience. A wrist-based heart-rate monitor was also used to obtain average readings for each condition.
Promising fi ndings
Th e results were promising with key fi ndings showing emotional responses to audience reactions as well as self-ratings of performance corresponding with audience feedback. Th e musicians reported experiencing higher levels of anxiety when the audience walked away from them and lower levels when more people were joining the audience. Th ey also appeared to use the reaction of the audience when rating how well they thought their performance had gone. Performance ratings were lowest in the negative audience condition and highest in the positive. Th e performers reported the experience as nerve racking but enjoyable. Some reported playing guitar whilst wearing a head-mounted display as challenging, but most faired quite well. Post-evaluation interviews indicated that some musicians had experienced feelings of ‘encouragement’ from the audience when it was increasing in size or feeling ‘upset’ when people walked away. Th is could be seen as a logical response on the face of it until considering that the participants were fully aware that it was computer-generated and not a real audience. Most of the participants reported that they chose to believe in the audience and indicated feelings of copresence as they talked about responding to the audience increasing and the audience responding to them when they were ‘bad’. A surprising result was that the use of anxiety management techniques during performances was also identifi ed. Some of the musicians spoke to the audience to introduce songs and to thank them for applause, seemingly to relax into the performance and to try to relate to the audience. Others showed signs of self-serving bias where they chose to take the positive reactions from the audience as due to their performance and negative reactions as pre-programmed or related to the audience’s musical preferences. Stage fright is a pressing issue for a large number of amateur, student and professional musicians. Th e use of a virtual audience within exposure therapy could increase the scope of treatment and allow exposure to situations that would not be accessible in real life.It would be interesting to expand on this research with a larger sample size, diff erent audience settings and collaboration between musicians, to gain a deeper understanding of the full potential that virtual audiences could have within this context.
14 The Ergonomist October 2015
Events
North East Regional Group meetingA time to get together to celebrate Chartership while doing
the hard work of planning for the future will take place at ABB
consulting offi ces, Billingham, Teeside on 22nd October 2015,
18:30-20:00.
There will be a presentation from CIEHF CE Steve Barraclough,
followed by a round table discussion to examine what people
want from the North East Regional Group and what we should
be planning for next year.
Anyone who wants to stay on can enjoy a curry and further
discussion. For more information see http://bit.ly/1Ld76M5.
Worker Health Protection
25-29 October 2015, Abu Dhabi
This is the second year of the BOHS Worker Health Protection
Conference in the Middle East. Last year’s inaugural conference,
was a great success with over 100 senior delegates from
across the region representing industry and government in
attendance. This year there is a packed two-day scientifi c
programme, professional development courses and
an exhibition that showcases the latest innovations in
occupational health and hygiene.
With an esteemed panel of high-profi le international
speakers, WHPC 2015 off ers a stimulating line-up of panel
discussions, presentations and Q&A. The sessions will address
the key themes which are relevant to today’s workforce in
the region. It will provide a multi-disciplinary perspective,
and in addition to occupational hygiene, will encompass key
aspects of occupational medicine and nursing, wellbeing and
environmental health.
For more information, visit www.whpc-me.com/2/home.aspx.
Predicting the Fatal Flaws – Can we do things
diff erently in aviation safety?
26-27 November 2015, Crawley
A conference presented by The Royal Aeronautical Society
Human Factors Group, the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics
and Human Factors, and NATS – National Air Traffi c Services.
The conference looks at threat trends including confl ict zone
overfl ight, changing pilot/controller and other teamwork
interactions, the eff ect of new organisational economic
pressures, and at the benefi ts and limitations of structured
responses from SMS to safety audit tools, Safety II and
Resilience Engineering. 10% discount for CIEHF members.
For more details, visit http://bit.ly/1OGUauV.
CIEHF
Regional
Group events
are open to
everyone, not
just CIEHF
members.
Human Factors in
Aviation Safety9-10 November 2015, East Midlands Airport
www.hf-aviation.org.uk Chartered Instituteof Ergonomics& Human Factors
At our upcoming aviation safety event, we consider the
question: Could the safety of the aviation industry be
compromised by advances in technology?
Aviation has the enviable reputation as one of very few large-
scale ‘ultra-safe’ industries. But the need for more fl ights at
lower fares and higher demands in the defence sector have
led a greater reliance on technology, particularly automation,
which places pressure on both the pilots and the systems in
which they work.
Experts from BAE Systems, Eurocontrol, EasyJet and NATS,
along with researchers and academics will discuss how human
factors contributes to ensuring that the aviation industry
maintains safety and reliability in the face of technological
change. The conference will give you a rare opportunity to gain
insight into the research, practice, innovation and technology
that drives this industry. The event is open to and values the
contribution of people from all sectors.
Key Sessions
› ‘Removing the error, from pilot error’ byDonough Wilson,
Coventry University Technocentre
› ‘Resilience Engineering as a Perspective in Understanding
Accident Causation’ by Shawn Pruchniki, Ohio State University
› ‘Putting the Science Back into CRM: Promoting Distributed
Cognition on the Flight Deck’ by Don Harris, Coventry
University
It’s the fi rst time we have run this event, but interest has been
very high due to the calibre of the speakers and the practical,
applicable nature of many of the talks. Book now to be part
of this important discussion and to advance your career by
learning from the best.
Places are available to CIEHF members for just £96.75 for one
day or £149.25 for both days with a 25% discount on standard
rates. For further information and to book please visit the event
website. All prices exclude VAT.
October 2015 The Ergonomist 15
This event promises to be a very valuable opportunity for anyone who has
an interest in human factors in high-hazard industries.
Presenter John Lovegrove, who will speak about human factors practice at
this event writes:
As often publicised, the nuclear industry is feared by the British public
because of the association with the harm caused by exposure to nuclear
radiation. The impact of events such as those at Chernobyl and Fukushima
has been to focus the minds of all those connected to the nuclear industry
to concentrate on achieving the goal of protecting both the general public
and individual workers from exposure by following four principles:
› Adequate shielding for the hazard
› Reduced exposure time to the hazard
› Increase in the distance between people and the hazard
› Containment of the hazard
These four principles are at the heart of all approaches used across the
nuclear industry. That’s where the similarities end. Each sector within
the nuclear industry has a varied history that has contributed to the
diff erences in organisational design, job design and performance
requirements that exist today. Whenever you fi rst start at the
organisation, you have to learn how to fi t in. What are the design
processes, what is the scope of your role and the expectations of the
stakeholders? It’s quite common to fi nd out that the organisation has
created their own in-house human factors standards to match the
expectations of the stakeholders.
In many cases there is an underlying tick box culture, and we are involved
to keep the regulators happy, not because of what we bring to the table.
So, what do we off er? The organisations have become large complex
organisations that are constructed of a mixture of contractors and in-
house staff . They are complex systems, they have recognised that they
need help and their pleas for help were left unanswered for years. This
created a void which has been fi lled by management consultants, lean
consultants, and human performance consultants.
Ergonomists can also help with issues eff ecting the running of these
organisations. We have a wealth of experience, knowledge and
techniques that will identify interventions that will improve and
strengthen the long term prospects for an organisation. The role of
an ergonomist or human factors specialist is to understand how the
organisation functions and to deliver successful ergonomic interventions
that improve the health and wellbeing of all concerned by ensuring that
they can achieve their work goals.
The use of participatory ergonomics has been extremely useful in
focusing all of the stakeholders on how work is actually done, it
strengthens the bond between engineers, designers, safety case authors
and the operators by encouraging them to work together to overcome the
emergent issues associated with their work.
At the Human Factors Integration in the Nuclear Industry event, talks
throughout the day will provide an insight into how human factors is
practised and to refl ect on how we work within the diff erent nuclear
organisations.
Ideas from other industries also enrich the expertise that already resides
in the nuclear industry. We hope to broaden the focus from trying to raise
the credibility of human factors within an organisation to boosting the
credibility of human factors and ergonomics across the entire nuclear
industry.
For more information on the event, including the full programme and
booking options, visit the website at www.hf-nuclear.org.uk.
As a CIEHF member you get 25% off our standard delegate rates. Student
Members get 40% off .
If you have any queries please contact James Walton, Marketing & Events
A permanent position is available in NCR’s Consumer Experience Design group based in Dundee, UK, working alongside other usability and design professionals.
Candidates with a background in ergonomics, human factors or human computer interaction are welcome. Those with a passion for making technology accessible to all will be preferred. The main focus will
applications.
Job details and application forms are at http://www.ncr.com/careers Search for job number 678158 or worldwide career opportunities located in Dundee.
Closing date 10th November
October 2015 The Ergonomist 23
‘The Ergonomist’The magazine of the CIEHF
Publisher: The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors