Human factors engineering requirements for the design of computerized procedure systems in nuclear power plants

Procedures are necessary for the support of human tasks in complex safetycritical systems. They can reduce human error and improve system safety. In nuclear industry, many computerized procedure systems were developed and applied in nuclear power plants alongside the improvement of digital technology. They could support the information searching, decision making, and procedure executing of the operators. Based on these applications, standards and guidelines corresponding to the human factors aspects of computerized procedures were published, such as IEEE 1786, IEC 62646, and NUREG-0700. This study first reviews the design of some computerized procedure systems from the aspects of procedure display, step marking, procedure management, parameter display, parameter monitoring, task support and system control. It then summarizes the clauses in the related standards, and finally discusses the human factors engineering requirements and general design principles for developing computerized procedures. By exploring the human-system interaction design and human factors engineering requirements of computerized procedure systems, this study wishes to provide some advice for the design and evaluation of the system. (author)