Human realibility: analysis , prediction and prevention of human errors K S Park A d v a n c e s in Human Fac tors / E r g o n o m i c s Vol 7, Elsevier , A m s t e r d a m (1987) $91.00 p p 34O

The author intends this as ' . . . a practical guide to the daily performance of t~sk.s in human reliability as well as a general reference and tutorial introduction to the discipline.' These are fairly demanding objectives, particu- larly in a field such as human reli- ability, which still has many facets in a state of development, and several areas of controversy. Nevertheless, human reliability is a field of proven importance, and so any contributions to its more permanent literature are worth examining. In the event, this book is disappointing, in that its perspective is rather dated, and it cannot be accepted as a reflec- tion of the present state-of-the-art in human reliability.

Chapter 1 ('Humanum est errare') is a pretty standard intro- duction to human factors, automa- tion and the human's role, and the importance of human error. Chapter 2 ('Psychology of human error ') is not about human error, rather a somewhat dated account of the experimental psychology of human performance, with no reference to current concepts in cognitive psychology. Moreover, as far as a 'practical guide' is con- cerned, the presentation gives no direct help to the system analyst or designer. Chapter 3 ('Human error') still keeps us at arm's length: a mere five pages of very brief discussion of three classifica- tion schemes and three sources of error, then limited insights into four large scale accidents, and only three final pages on 'human

error preventative techniques'. Chapter 4 ('Human engineering in systems design') is a substantial account, including all of the major areas, but with a tendency for 'knobs and dials' to predominate over the equally important problems of human-computer dia- logue.

So far, textbook human factors and brief excursions into human error, have been presented. Where is human reliability? Chapters 5 ('Basic concepts and measures of reliability') and 6 ('Analysis of system reliability') set the conventional mathematical background. The, Chapter 7 finally gets down to 'Human relia- bility prediction'. This should be one of the key chapters, but, once again, the coverage is somewhat dated. The seminal work of Alan Swain is well represented, but there is little reference to tech- niques more recently on the scene; in actual fact there is only passing reference to the need for assessing 'higher-level decision tasks'; a brief discussion of the

Ergonomics sourcebook: a guide to human factors information K H Pe l sma (Ed.) E rgosys t Associa tes Inc, USA pp 280, (1987) $80.00

This compendium is intended as a source of information on pro- fessional associations, on-line databases, research centres, con- sultants, periodicals, and basic references. The intended audience is ' . . . practising designers, engineers, and researchers who need ergono- mics information; faculty, trainers, consultants, and students in ergonomics; and professionals

critique of quantitative analyses misses all but one of the potential flaws in human reliability pre- diction; and the 20 page exposition of fault-tree analysis has little human-error content. Finally, Chapter 8 ('New horizons') is a pot-pourri of developing areas, some of which are well-estab- lished enough to merit coverage in the main text.

The overall conclusion must be reached that the book does a rea- sonable job of mapping the out- lines of human error and human reliability - - but as they were at least ten years ago. Several important facets are excluded, there is poor coverage of recent developments (only half of the references are post-1975), and there is no realistic critique of current techniques and problems. Admittedly, human reliability is a difficult area, but a text in this series of 'Advances' really ought to have done better.

David Whitfield Health and Safety Execu~ve

Bootie, UE

involved in occupational health and safety issues.'

There is a dispensable introduc- tory section which carries inter- views on present and future ergonomics issues, with six US specialists. Then, the 'information resources' - - professional asso- ciations, etc. as above - - are listed with brief descriptions and details, under the ergonomics subject areas: 'General ergonomics infor- mation', 'Human factors data', 'Performance-related factors', 'Information presentation and communication', 'Workplace, equipment', and 'Product design', 'Environmental design', 'Job design and organisation', 'System characteristics', 'Health and safety', 'Human factors testing and evaluation', 'Standards'. The book appears more substantial than it really it, because each information resource may appear, in full, under more than one area, and is listed again in an alphabetical

148 DISPLAYS, JULY 1988