Development of a Team Human Reliability Tool (ROCCI)

Human Reliability Assessments (HRA) have been developed so designers and users can understand how likely it is for a human to make an error when using a product or system in the workplace. This is called the reliability of the product. Approximately twenty-six techniques exist to assess the reliability of an individual human in a process. However, often a team of people interact within a system and not just one individual on their own. Hence a new generation of HRAs is needed to assess the effects of teamwork on reliability. This EPSRC CASE studentship, supported by BAE systems, develops a prototype, which enables a designer to quantify and answer to the question: “If I allocate this team to execute that task in System X, how likely is it that they will succeed?” This prototype assumes that a process can be defined in the form of a flow diagram and that roles can be allocated to execute it. Then, using one of those twenty-six techniques, individual reliabilities can be calculated. These are then modulated, by considering how the team interaction affects the three core elements of Trust, Communication and Decision Making Power Distance. This creates an ‘interactive reliability’ factor for each individual in the team. These individual reliability factors are combined according to the team architecture for the process in order to determine the overall team reliability factor. The methods of development include: stakeholder interviews; the evolution of requirements specification; sensitivity analysis; and a stakeholder review of the tool. The information from these analyses produced a model about team interaction and the requirements for the new tool together with statements and algorithms that need to be used in the new tool: ROCCI. This technique is useful for use in the early stages of the design process. The successful prototype can be extended into applications for operations and used to assess and adapt products and systems, which involve teams.