Deep dive into HFE with the NRC’s Human Factors Information System (HFIS)

Humans are integral to the safe operation of a nuclear power plant. In the late 1970s, NRC began to focus on protecting and ensuring adequate training of plant staff to perform their assigned tasks. The NRC studied factors affecting performance, such as the effects of shift work on health and whether control room simulators would improve training. As a result of this focus, NRC created the Human Factors Information System (HFIS) database to store information about human performance issues. See the following for more information about the database.

Following is a list of definitions for the “area” and the “detail” codes assigned to each human performance problem. The definitions are provided so one can understand the types of problems or issues assigned to that particular code.

Using defined criteria, NRC sorts the descriptions of human performance issues into the following eight categories:

1. Training
2. Procedures and Reference Documents
3. Fitness for Duty
4. Oversight
5. Problem Identification & Resolution
6. Communication
7. Human-System Interface and Environment
8. Work Planning and Practices

Each category is further divided into areas containing details describing the human performance issue.