Human Factors Integration (HFI)

We support project teams in embedding human factors at every lifecycle stage — from concept design to operation — so that systems are designed for the people who will use, maintain, and respond to them, not retrofitted after those people have already been asked to work around the design.

Every HFI engagement is led by Dr. Chizaram Dagogo-Nwankwo, Chartered Ergonomist (C.ErgHF, CIEHF), with published peer-reviewed research in human factors and process safety and direct experience across oil and gas, energy, chemical, and healthcare capital projects.

What is Human Factors Integration?

Human Factors Integration is the process of identifying and addressing human performance considerations across the full lifecycle of a system, facility, or operational change. It draws on ergonomics, cognitive psychology, and organisational science, and applies each at the stage of project development where it can still shape the design rather than patch it afterwards.

The cost of resolving human factors problems scales steeply across the project lifecycle. Identifying a control room layout problem during FEED costs a fraction of what it costs to find it during commissioning, and a fraction again of what it costs to manage the operational consequences after handover. HFI is how organisations get ahead of that cost curve.

In the UK, HFI is referenced in IOGP Report 454, the Energy Institute's guidance on human factors in process safety, and DEF STAN 00-251 for defence programmes. For COMAH-regulated facilities, the HSE expects human factors to be built into the design process. A safety case that addresses human factors only as a closing section, rather than as a thread running through the design, will draw scrutiny from the competent authority.

Who needs this service

1. Capital project teams in oil, gas, and chemical industries
   Upstream and downstream operators, EPC contractors, and project management teams where IOGP 454 or equivalent human factors requirements are part of the project scope. HFI returns the most value when it starts at FEED, but we can contribute at any project stage.
2. COMAH-regulated facility operators
   New facilities and major modifications at upper-tier COMAH sites where the safety case must demonstrate that human factors were considered in the design and hazard identification process. HFI provides the structured programme that generates and documents that evidence.
3. Defence and aerospace programme teams
   Programmes operating under DEF STAN 00-251 requiring a Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP) and documented HFI activities across the acquisition lifecycle.
4. Energy and utilities infrastructure projects
   Power generation, transmission, water treatment, and renewables projects where control room design, maintenance task design, and operational procedure development affect both safety performance and operational efficiency.
5. Organisations following a design-related incident
   Where an investigation has identified usability, maintainability, or human-system interaction as a contributing cause, HFI provides the structured programme to address those factors in future projects and in retrospective improvement of existing systems.

What our HFI programme includes

1. HFI Planning and Management
   A Human Factors Integration Plan (HFIP) setting out the HF activities, deliverables, responsibilities, and schedule across the project lifecycle. We work with project management teams to build human factors into the existing project framework from the start, rather than running it as a parallel workstream that gets deprioritised under schedule pressure.
2. Allocation of Functions
   Analysis of which functions should be carried out by people, by automation, or through human-machine collaboration. The decisions made here shape the control system architecture, staffing levels, and training requirements for the rest of the project. They are rarely revisited once detailed design begins.
3. Task Analysis
   Hierarchical task analysis of the key operational, maintenance, and emergency response tasks within the system. Identifies task demands, error potential, and the design requirements needed to support reliable human performance. Feeds directly into Safety Critical Task Analysis where required.
4. Human Factors in Design Reviews
   Participation in formal design reviews — HAZOP, LOPA, SIL studies, 3D model reviews — to introduce the human performance perspective at the points where design changes are still feasible. Human factors issues that conventional hazard identification methods don't surface get found here.
5. Control Room and Workstation Design
   Human factors input into control room layout, console design, display configuration, and alarm management. Standards applied: EEMUA 191 (alarm management), ISO 11064 (control centre ergonomics), IOGP 454. The operator's environment either supports accurate, timely decision-making under abnormal conditions or it doesn't. Design determines which.
6. Procedure and Work Instruction Development
   Review and development of operating and maintenance procedures assessed for clarity, usability, and fit with the task demands under realistic operating conditions. Aligned with HPOG guidance and IOGP 454.
7. Training Needs Analysis (TNA)
   Identification of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to perform critical tasks to the required standard. TNA output feeds into competence management system development and training programme design.
8. HFI Verification and Validation
   Assessment of whether HFI activities have achieved their objectives: have the human performance requirements been met by the design? Verification at key project milestones, validation during commissioning and early operations.

How HFI fits into the project lifecycle

1. Concept and feasibility
   Define the human performance requirements for the system. Consider staffing levels, task allocation between human and automation, and the design constraints that will shape what follows. Decisions made here are the hardest to reverse.
2. FEED
   The highest-value stage for HFI input. Control room layouts, equipment arrangements, maintenance access, and alarm philosophy are still genuinely flexible. Human factors requirements established here cost the least to meet.
3. Detailed design
   Verification that concept-stage human performance requirements are reflected in the detailed design. Participation in HAZOP and LOPA to introduce human error scenarios. Procedure frameworks developed alongside engineering design rather than after it.
4. Commissioning and handover
   Validation that the as-built system supports the task demands identified earlier. Pre-startup training needs confirmed against final design. Handover documentation reviewed for human factors completeness.
5. Operations
   Post-startup review of human performance against design predictions. Latent design issues that only emerge under real operating conditions get identified and resolved. Ongoing support for procedure revision, alarm rationalisation, and competence management.

The cost of not doing it

Retrofitting human factors solutions after a system has been built is expensive. Changing a control room layout during construction costs 5–10 times what the same change costs during FEED. Changing it during operations costs more still — and the cost is not only financial. Systems designed without adequate human factors input carry residual human error risk that training and procedure revision won't fully remove.

The Texas City refinery explosion and the Buncefield fire both had traceable human factors design failures at the project stage. Neither was primarily a case of operator error. Both were cases of systems that made serious operational errors probable. The investigations that followed produced the guidance frameworks — IOGP 454, the EI human factors toolkit — that now define what good project HFI looks like.

HFI is not overhead. It is risk reduction that pays back across the operational life of the facility.

Frequently asked questions

When in a project should HFI start?
As early as possible. The later human factors work begins, the more constrained the design options become and the higher the cost of any changes. Late-stage HFI can still find and mitigate issues but it can't change the decisions that have already been locked in.

What is the difference between HFI and ergonomics?
Ergonomics is one of the disciplines within HFI, focused on the physical and cognitive fit between people and their work environment. HFI is the broader management process that coordinates human factors inputs — ergonomics, task analysis, procedure development, training needs analysis, organisational design — across the full project lifecycle. Ergonomics without project integration produces good workstations in badly designed systems.

Is HFI required under UK law?
HFI is not mandated by name in UK legislation. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require employers to assess risks from work activities, which includes human error risks. For COMAH-regulated facilities, the HSE expects human factors to be addressed in the safety case. For defence programmes, DEF STAN 00-251 mandates HFI activities. In practice, regulators look for evidence of systematic human factors consideration in capital projects above a certain hazard threshold.

Can you work within an existing project team structure?
Yes. Most engagements involve working alongside existing engineering, safety, and operations teams. We integrate into the project management structure, participate in design reviews, and deliver HFI activities in a format compatible with the project's existing documentation and review processes.

Do you provide HFI for operational changes, not just new facilities?
Yes. Major operational changes — new shift patterns, process modifications, technology upgrades, control system replacements — carry human factors implications that warrant structured assessment. We provide HFI support for operational change programmes as well as capital projects.

Discuss a project

HFI programmes are scoped individually based on project type, stage, hazard profile, and regulatory context. Contact us with a brief description of your project and we will come back within two working days with a proposed approach.