A study on the operator's erroneous responses to the new human interface of a digital device to be introduced to nuclear power plants

Abstract

It is extremely difficult to investigate completely the defects in digital devices, and to prevent human errors in their interface during the design aspect of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Human interface errors have been investigated through usability studies and reliability analysis (HRA). Several methods and various programs are available for prevention of human errors. However, it is very limited to explain the detail mechanism of human errors by quantitative usability approaches. Therefore, we define Error Segment (ES) and Interaction Segment (IS) to predict a specific human error potential (HEP) in a digital device and its human interface. In this study predicted HEP is to be verified by experiments including data analysis of EEG, ECG and behavioral observations. Thus the HEP in the human interface of a digital device can be more carefully considered for preventing human errors in NPPs. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.