Course Title: Human Factors for Investigators

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Human Factors for Investigators

Credit Points: 12.00

Flexible Terms

Course Code	Campus	Career	School	Learning Mode	Teaching Period(s)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	PGRDFx2019 (All)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	PGRDFlex21 (All)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	PGRDFlex22 (ZZZZ)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	PGRDFlex23 (All)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face	PGRDFlex24 (STEM)
OENG1200	City Campus	Postgraduate	172H School of Engineering	Face-to-Face or Internet	PGRDFx2020 (GC20)

Course Coordinator: A/Prof. Selina Fothergill

Course Coordinator Phone: -

Course Coordinator Email: selina.fothergill2@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: City Campus

Course Coordinator Availability: by appointment

Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

Required Prior Study: It is expected students enrolled in this course have completed or are enrolled in the Investigation Readiness course.

Course Description

In this course you will study principles and application of Human Factors – the multi-disciplinary science that applies knowledge about the capabilities and limitations of human performance to all aspects of the design, operation, and maintenance of products and systems. A consideration of Human Factors, at both the individual and organisational level, is an essential part of any safety investigation.

Humans are an integral part of the safety of all modes of transport, including aviation, maritime and rail. The human element is a contributing factor in almost all accidents and incidents. Human Factors can contribute positively and negatively to an organisation’s success in the industry. It is therefore crucial to gain an understanding of the impact of Human Factors in ensuring safe operations.

The course covers a range of Human Factors topics, including human error, perception, memory, attention, fatigue, workload, stress, ergonomics, decision making, communication, and safety culture, with particular reference to the transportation industry.

This course will enable you to identify, assess, and develop strategies to manage the impact of Human Factors on the safety of operations. 

Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for Graduate Certificate in Transport Safety Investigation

1. Needs, Context and Systems

• Describe, investigate and analyse complex systems and associated issues (using systems thinking and modelling techniques).
• Exposit legal, social, economic, ethical and environmental interests, values, requirements and expectations of key stakeholders.
• Identify and assess risks (including OH&S) as well as the economic, social and environmental impacts of industry activities.

2. Problem Solving and Design

• Anticipate the consequences of intended action or inaction and understand how the consequences are managed collectively by your organisation, project or team.
• Develop and operate within a hazard and risk framework appropriate to industry activities.

3. Analysis

• Apply underpinning natural, physical and applied sciences, mathematics, statistics, computer and information sciences.

4. Professional Practice

• Understand the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of contemporary industry practice in the specific discipline.
• Demonstrate effective team membership and team leadership.
• Communicate in a variety of different ways to collaborate with other people, including accurate listening, reading and comprehension, based on dialogue when appropriate, taking into account the knowledge, expectations, requirements, interests, terminology and language of the intended audience.

For more information on the program learning outcomes for your program, please see the program guide.

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Identify and critically analyse key terms and concepts used in Human Factors, and how human-related issues contribute to safety performance.
2. Describe and distinguish human performance capabilities and limitations.
3. Identify and critically analyse Human Factors within accidents and incidents.
4. Evaluate and apply strategies to manage Human Factors within the workplace environment with a view to improving safety and performance.

Overview of Learning Activities

You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as face to face lectures, lectorias, practicals, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mixture of both, supported by in-class activities, assignments, and progressive assessment (e.g., quizzes/tests). As a complementary form of acquisition of knowledge in the different topics, students will be exposed to practical activities replicating real industry scenarios by resorting to selected case-studies and/or techniques/procedures identical to those used in a real working context.

You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, and through links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course.

Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course. There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.

Overview of Assessment

X This course has no hurdle requirements.
☐ All hurdle requirements for this course are indicated clearly in the assessment regime that follows, against the relevant assessment task(s) and all have been approved by the College Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor (Leaning & Teaching).

Assessment Task 1: Quiz
Weighting 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3.

Assessment Task 2: Individual Assignment
Weighting 20%
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 3, 4.

Assessment Task 3: Individual Assignment Presentation
Weighting 20%
This assessment task is a PowerPoint presentation supported by embedded audio clips. Each student is to share the research findings of their individual assignment case study and submit this assignment via Turnitin in the Course Canvas shell.
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 3, 4.

Assessment Task 4: Final Test
Weighting 40%
This is a timed test of 40 minutes duration which can be completed at the specified date and time in the course Canvas shell within a 24-hour window. 
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4.

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.