Modeling workers’ behavior: A human factors taxonomy and a fuzzy analysis in the case of industrial accidents

• Published in: International journal of industrial ergonomics Vol. 69; pp. 29 - 47
• Main Authors: Longo, Francesco, Nicoletti, Letizia, Padovano, Antonio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.01.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Accidents; Analytic hierarchy process; Automation; Cognitive ability; Correlation analysis; Disaster management; Disasters; Domains; Emergency management; Emergency preparedness; Emergency response; Employee attitude; Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process; Fuzzy logic; Human behavior; Human behaviour modeling; Human factors; Human performance; Human response; Industrial accidents; Industrial applications; Industrial safety; Intelligent agents; Occupational safety; Psychological aspects; Psychological factors; Quantitative analysis; Safety management; Taxonomy; Weight; Workers; Human behaviour modeling; Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process; Industrial accidents; Safety management; Human factors
• ISSN: 0169-8141; 1872-8219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ergon.2018.09.002

While ‘Industry 4.0’ drives for greater automation, human factors are still essential in certain domains, especially in industrial disaster management. Despite human factors are frequently cause of individual biases and errors, a systematic quantitative analysis of the correlation between them and the workers' response performance in case of an industrial disaster has never been conducted. The aim of the present study is twofold: to design an original human factors taxonomy, which encompasses all the industrial worker's cognitive capabilities, physical skills, and psychological attitudes; to establish a correlation between each factor and the workers' response performance in case of an industrial emergency. A Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) analysis has been conducted in collaboration with 44 subject matter experts by using an ad-hoc developed tool to investigate, in particular, two types of workers, the role of emergency manager and the emergency team member. Results reveal that the factors have not the same weight in determining the human response performance: cognitive and psychological aspects have a substantial influence on the emergency manager's response performance, while the emergency team member's response performance is more influenced by psychological and physical aspects. Given the crucial role of cognitive, physical and psychological factors in modern human-centred industrial systems and especially in the field of industrial safety & security, this study represents a meticulous guide for safety specialists in the design of disaster management strategies, for recruiters and practitioners in the development of competency-based job descriptions and for new research works for the development of personality-gifted intelligent agents in industrial applications. [Display omitted] •An original human factors taxonomy for an industrial worker is proposed.•Cognitive, physical and psychological factors affect the worker's performance.•A fuzzy AHP analysis connects the factors to the emergency operators' performance.•Cognitive and psychological factors influence the emergency manager's response.•Psychological and physical factors influence the emergency team member's response.