…did you feel like the barber or stylist didn’t really listen to what you wanted and described to them?  Even showing them pictures of the new look you’re going for.  They say “sure, not a problem – we can do that!”  You’re excited for your new hair-doo, but once they’ve started cutting, there’s no going back.

 

Good news, your hair will grow back (for some of us), but getting a second chance at facility design and construction is unlikely.  We have clients approach us to help them fix a bad design.  A bad design that included a lot of cool design features, but didn’t have the science backing up the Human Factor Analysis and didn’t integrate with the architecture.

 

Brand new consoles, expensive display walls and brand new lighting control systems can’t solve the noise issue you have from an old, noisy HVAC fan in the ceiling.  The latest and greatest technology won’t solve the distracting voice of the one “loud-talker” in the control room.  All you hear are distractions from the room, people shuffling papers, etc.  How are you supposed to focus on the process, the data, the alarms and radio chatter when you’re completely overwhelmed by noise, the smell of someone’s reheated fish sandwich, your constant headache from poor lighting, and the HVAC diffuser blowing directly into your eyes during your 12 hour shift?  All of these distractions are during a normal day, and normal operation.

 

What happens during an upset or abnormal situation?  Compound all of these environmental and physiological distractions and you have a recipe for disaster.

 

The main goal behind a proper Human Factors assessment and a design that executes the Human Factor needs are to mitigate the distractions so your operators can focus on their mission.

• Improve Situational Awareness
• Increase Alertness
• Increase Vigilance
• Improve the operators health and reduce stress levels

 

The benefits of integrating Human Factors and Architecture for control center design:

• Encourages collaboration
• Enhances safety by designing for the health and alertness of the staff
• Enhances situational awareness
• Optimizes the HMI
• Increases decision-making reliability
• Reduces leadership tasks
• Creates positive visitor experiences
• Improves productivity
• Simplifies building maintenance
• Enhances employee satisfaction
• Increases recruitment and retention

 

Want to know more?  Please reach out to us with any questions – we’re here to help and get you going down the right path.

• info@slarc.com
• 303-534-2200