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own internal standards for HF that govern activities across the world. For those companies without their own guidance, current good prac- tice documents specific to the oil and gas industry are available [such as the American Bureau of Shipping Ergonomics Guidance or ASTM F1166]. ese have been developed by industry groups representing the major operators and provide harmonized HF guidance; applica- tion of these should ensure that HF risks are evaluated and managed systematically. One such document has been produced by the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers. eir Human Factors Engineering for Projects publication is in the public domain and is available on the orga- nizations Web site. It was released in 2011 and focuses on the engineer- ing aspects of major capital projects, describing a structured approach to identifying HF issues throughout a projects typical design phases. e document places particular empha- sis on ensuring cost-e ectiveness of the HF e ort by planning the appro- priate level of competence and degree of involvement according to the projects size and complexity. It is a structured approach that involves HF at a suitable time in the project, includes guidance on preparing an HF program, requires continuity of HF engineering on the project (to ensure early HF design e orts are not overwritten) and requires continuous improvement of the HF input via end- of-project feedback. In addition to a strategy for iden- tifying HF risks and opportunities within a project, the document con- tains several useful appendixes that includes clear visual examples of basic HF issues and incident reports (useful for training and educating), an example project screening tool (for preparing the HF strategy and level of input), and table of competence requirements for HF practitioners. e HF discipline is well-estab- lished, having been formally founded more than 60 years ago, and HF principles have been systematically applied to projects in the offshore industry for at least 20 years. It is expected that the specic knowledge gained during that period is becom- ing increasingly available to the industry and that greater application of the discipline will continue. From a practitioners viewpoint, the progress of HF into oil and gas has been slow but steady. Regulatory requirements will be key to increasing the pace of implementation. MTMartin Robb is a Houston-based human fac- tors consultant with ATKINS. A SIMPLE QUIRK? In 2009, a new supply vessel was being delivered from its manufacturing shipyard in China to the North Sea. On its voyage across the ocean, the crew discovered a quirk in the control system. Under manual control, the ships thrusters could be controlled using a joystick. However, the joystick had been con?gured to apply the thrusters in the direction that the joystick was pushed. This meant that if the joystick was pushed right, the thrusters were applied to the right, and the boat moved to the left. If the joystick was pushed left, the thrusters were applied to the left, and the boat moved to the right. Having discovered this, the crew decided this was acceptable and continued to use this control on several occasions throughout the voyage. The ship was working o a ?xed installation when it struck the jacket at some speed. The vessel had started to move towards the installation and the master tried to move the vessel away by moving the joystick away from the vessel. Unfortunately this applied thrust in the opposite directio n, accelerating the ship into the installat ion. The ship struck the installation leg, but no damage was caused. Source: Human Factors: How to take the ?rst steps?? Reproduced with kind permission of Step Change in Safety (www. stepchangeinsafety.net) April 2012www.sname.org/sname/mt (mt notes) Human Factors Meets Oil and Gas continued Regulatory coverage is more scant in many other world regions, and some major operating comp anies have developed their own internal standards for HF that govern activities across the world.