Steps toward the realization of “human-centered systems”-an overview of the human factors activities at TEPCO

In the area of nuclear power generation in Japan, studies are conducted on human factors by the joint efforts of the government and the private sector as shown in Safety 21. TEPCO´s Human Factors (HF) department was established in 1991 for the realization of “Human Centered Systems”, which means adopting elements surrounding humans into human characteristics. Efforts of research concentrated not only human-machine interfaces but also on team formation, organization, etc., necessary in order to keep nuclear power plants operating safely. For the effective application of human factors, it is important to extract human factors problems from actual working places. The department supports activities relating to human error reduction taken by the nuclear power station and gives lectures on human factors for the site personnel. The HF department has laboratories to clarify or confirm the results reported by other facilities before application to the actual field