Cognitive Work Analysis ― Applications, Extensions and Future Directions

Over the past decade, Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) has been one of the popular human factors approaches for complex systems evaluation and design applications. This is reflected by a diverse range of applications across safety critical domains. The book brings together a series of CWA applications and discussions from world-leading human factors researchers and practitioners. It begins with an overview of the CWA framework, including its theoretical underpinnings, the methodological approaches involved (including practical guidance on each phase), and previous applications of the framework. The core of the book is a series of CWA applications, undertaken in a wide range of safety critical domains for a range of purposes. These serve to demonstrate the contribution that CWA can make to real-world projects and provide readers with inspiration for how such analyses can be practically carried out. Following this, a series of applications in which new approaches or adaptations have been added to the framework are presented. These show how practical applications feedback into the theories/approaches underpinning CWA. The closing chapter then speculates on future applications of the framework and on a series of new research directions required in order to enhance its utility. In emphasising the practical realities of performing CWA, and the real-world impacts it can provide, the book tackles several common misconceptions in a constructive and persuasive way. It provides a welcome demonstration of how CWA can be a powerful ally in tackling complexity-related problems that afflict systems in all areas.

Professor Neville A. Stanton holds a chair in human factors in the school of Civil Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal papers and 20 books on human factors and ergonomics. In 1998, he was awarded the Institution of Electrical Engineers Divisional Premium Award for a co-authored paper on engineering psychology and system safety. The Ergonomics Society awarded him the Otto Edholm medal in 2001 and the President’s Medal in 2008 for his contribution to basic and applied ergonomics research. In 2007, the Royal Aeronautical Society awarded him the Hodgson Medal and Bronze Award with colleagues for their work on flight deck safety. Professor Stanton is an editor of the journal Ergonomics and is on the editorial board of Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science. Professor Stanton is a fellow and chartered occupational psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society, a fellow of the Ergonomics Society, and a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. He has a BSc (Hons) in occupational psychology from the University of Hull, an MPhil in applied psychology, and a PhD in human factors from Aston University in Birmingham. Paul M. Salmon is an Associate Professor in Human Factors and leader of the USCAR (University of the Sunshine Coast Accident Research) team at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Paul holds an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) post-doctoral training fellowship in the area of Public Health and has over 12 years’ experience in applied Human Factors research in a number of domains, including the military, aviation, and road and rail transport. Paul has co-authored 10 books, over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, and numerous conference articles and book chapters. Paul has received various accolades for his research to date, including the 2007 Royal Aeronautical Society Hodgson Prize for best research and best paper and t