SOLUTIONS

Human Factors Engineering (HFE) and Ergonomics

Walter Bennis says "the factory of the future will have only two employees, a human and a dog. The human is there only to feed the dog and the dog is there to bite the human if he or she touches anything" (Paradies and Unger, 2000).

Till the Walter Bennis factory becomes a reality, it will be hard to undermine the role of humans in today’s industrial processes. Unfortunately, several major industrial accidents in the past indicate that human errors are simply inevitable.

A comprehensive understanding of human interactions in an industrial system can enable our clients to not only minimise risk to their people, assets and environment, but also optimise their system performance and reliability.

Supplemented by MES’ proficiency in Process Safety Management and Asset Integrity, Human Factors Engineering solutions provide the necessary assurance and confidence to our clients in ensuring the safety of their People, Assets and Environment.

How can HFE/ ergonomics studies help your business?

Critical Task Inventory & Review

Identifying human tasks which ensure Asset Integrity and/or Process Safety or which could represent significant risks. Critical Task Inventory & Reviews are performed in accordance with best industry practices.

Valve Criticality Analysis (VCA)

Ensuring suitable access is provided to valves based on prioritisation (frequency and urgency of use) of valves.

Human Factor Assessment for Skid Package Units

Ensuring that risks associated with health, safety and human reliability in operations, maintenance of skid packages are As Low as Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).

HFE Plan for Construction

The HFE plan for construction identifies the activities to be performed during the project construction phases to ensure plant / facility achieves the HFE design objectives. The plan will identify the organisation required to achieve, primarily through training, defining roles and responsibilities and quality control activities during construction.

Control Room Ergonomics & 3D Layout Design

Typical consulting solutions on Control Room (CR) ergonomics include:

• Advise on manning levels and job roles for the CR
• Establish task and functional requirements of the areas within the CR
• Evaluate Layout of CR
• Review Layout of the consoles
• Analyse proposed furniture and furnishings within CR
• Review the design philosophy of the main control system e.g. how many screens per controller, use of overview screens etc.
• Assess the adequacy of communications interfaces etc.

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To Learn more about how MES’ CFD expertise can help you:

Contact any of our many global offices or fill in the Enquiry Form (see red tab top left). Alternatively, you can write to us at: mes.info@mes-international.com

MES - Minimising Risk, Maximising Performance