Human Factors Issues in Land Forces Weapon Systems Evaluations
Abstract
Human factors issues include the problems of operator performance, reliability, maintainability, availability, safety, and habitability as they relate to the interactions between the human, the machine, and the environment. Within the Canadian Forces (CF) many human factors activities are performed during the field evaluations that are conducted in support of the acquisition of weapon systems off the shelf'. This report is based on a review conducted in the early l99Os of some of the lessons learned' with regards to human- factors evaluations of off the shelf' and prototype systems conducted for the CF. From these field evaluations it is concluded that there is a need for increased emphasis on human factors at the requirements and concept development stages of system acquisition. Due to heightened interest in Human Systems Integration issues in procurement, the original review has been revised. Conclusions are drawn and recommendations made with respect to: 1) the need to plan for human factors evaluations; 2) common design deficiencies; 3) the limitations of human factors engineering techniques and need for further research, and; 4) the need to address human factors issues in Statements of Requirements (SORs) for new systems and equipment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA377396
Entities
People
- D. Beevis
- R. M. Poisson
Organizations
- Defence Research and Development Canada