A human factors–oriented methodological framework for the systematic evaluation of digital train commands in railway operations and examines how factors such as stress, time pressure, prior experience, and interaction design influence user behaviour and trust in digital acknowledgement mechanisms.
Abstract
The digitalisation of operational train commands represents a major step in the transformation of railway operations and fundamentally changes safety-critical communication between dispatchers and train drivers. Traditionally, commands are issued through written or verbal procedures based on strictly standardised rules, ensuring clarity and reliability, particularly in disruption scenarios. With the introduction of digital train commands, these procedures are increasingly replaced by interface-based transmission and acknowledgement mechanisms, raising new questions regarding usability, comprehensibility, and human–system interaction.This paper presents a human factors–oriented methodological framework for the systematic evaluation of digital train commands in railway operations. The focus lies on research design and evaluation methods suitable for early deployment and transition phases, rather than on operational performance outcomes. The proposed approach combines simulator-based studies, task and process analyses, semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, mockups, and thinking-aloud techniques to investigate cognitive workload, acceptance, and safety-critical communication under realistic operating conditions. Particular attention is given to transitional environments in which traditional and digital command procedures coexist, potentially increasing cognitive demands and the risk of human error.The framework examines how factors such as stress, time pressure, prior experience, and interaction design influence user behaviour and trust in digital acknowledgement mechanisms. By systematically addressing both technical and human aspects, the approach supports early identification of usability issues and interaction risks before large-scale implementation. The paper contributes a transferable methodological basis for evaluating digital command systems in the railway domain and other safety-critical transportation contexts, highlighting the need to integrate human factors alongside technological innovation to maintain established safety standards.
The article addresses the issue of operational railway traffic management in the context of modern digitalised railways. It characterises the differences between local traffic control and remote traffic control, which represents the contemporary trend. The text outlines the role of the human factor in operational railway traffic management, highlighting the gradual shift away from the traditional role of the station dispatcher, limited to a single station. The role of traffic dispatchers is increasingly being taken over by line dispatchers, who manage traffic over entire sections of lines across multiple stations simultaneously. The information available to traffic management employees online, which enables them to make operational and high-quality decisions, is characterised. The authors also address potential shortcomings in access to information and propose possible solutions for further improving information availability in the decision-making process.
Petr Kučera, Petr Nachtigall, Martin Šturma et al.· Acta Polytechnica CTU Procee...· 0 citations
Aviation safety depends heavily on precise interaction between pilots and Air Traffic Control (ATC), yet failures within that interaction remain a recurring contributing factor in civil aviation accidents and incidents. This study aims to identify and analyze patterns of ATC-related failure across a set of historically significant aviation accidents and incidents, and to derive implications for global aviation safety improvement. A qualitative literature review design was employed, drawing on official investigation reports, safety databases, and peer-reviewed journal articles concerning five representative events—Tenerife (1977), Zagreb (1976), Uberlingen (2002), Linate (2001), and Jakarta Halim (2016)—synthesized through directed content analysis guided by the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) and Reason's Swiss Cheese Model. The findings reveal that communication breakdowns, non-standard phraseology, controller work overload, limitations in surveillance technology, and weak inter-unit coordination constitute recurring causal patterns behind ATC-related accidents/incidents. The study concludes that enhancing aviation safety requires stricter phraseology standardization, strengthened Crew/Team Resource Management training for controllers, and sustained investment in surface radar and conflict-alert technologies.
Hendro Eko Saputro, Elfi Amir, Rany Adiliawijaya et al.· International Journal of Hea...· 0 citations
Transshipment point maritime coal logistics involves high occupational safety risks due to dynamic sea conditions, continuous operations, and complex vessel-handling activities. Current monitoring practices primarily rely on CCTV systems for security purposes, limiting the real-time detection of unsafe acts and delaying corrective interventions, which contributes to recurring human-factor-related accidents. A gap remains between safety reporting mechanisms and real-time behavioral observation, indicating the need for proactive monitoring integration at the Bulk Sumatra site. This study designed a proactive occupational safety monitoring system to improve the early detection of unsafe acts and support decision-making in complex maritime operational environments. A qualitative case study approach was employed using observations, interviews, and document reviews conducted at a transshipment point. The collected data were analyzed using Root Cause Analysis (RCA), SWOT analysis (Internal Factor Analysis Summary [IFAS]–External Factor Analysis Summary [EFAS]), and Design Thinking to develop a user-centered monitoring framework. The findings revealed discrepancies between reported unsafe conditions and observed unsafe acts, highlighting the limitations of existing monitoring practices. CCTV systems were found to be underutilized for occupational safety purposes. The proposed system integrates risk-based camera placement, digital safety reporting, monitoring dashboards, risk classification, and structured follow-up mechanisms to enhance response effectiveness. The system design emphasizes early warning capabilities, faster supervisory intervention, and improved accountability across operational areas. The proposed model enhances safety visibility, accelerates risk mitigation, strengthens occupational safety controls, and supports improved safety performance in transshipment operations. This study contributes to the transition from reactive safety management toward proactive, risk-based decision-making within maritime coal logistics operations.
H. Prasetya, E. Pratiwi· Journal of social research· 0 citations
Aviation Safety is highly dependent on effective communication between Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) and pilots. Communication is a vital component of the Air Traffic Services (ATS) system, serving to prevent collisions, regulate air traffic flow, and provide essential safety information. However, data from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) indicate that approximately 60–70% of aviation incidents are caused by human error, with Communication Breakdown being one of the most significant contributing factors. In Indonesia, the rapid increase in air traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the risk of miscommunication, particularly during peak traffic periods and emergency situations. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the factors contributing to Communication Breakdown, its impact on Aviation Safety, and evidence-based mitigation strategies identified in the literature. The study employed a literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. A total of 10 nationally accredited SINTA 3–6 journals published between 2018 and 2025, along with KNKT reports and ICAO documents, were analyzed thematically. The findings identified four dominant factors contributing to Communication Breakdown: the use of non-standard Phraseology, English language proficiency below ICAO Level 4, ATC workload and fatigue, and technical factors such as frequency interference and stuck microphone. The consequences of miscommunication include loss of separation, runway incursion, near miss incidents, and the potential for fatal accidents. Recommended mitigation strategies include strengthening ICAO English Proficiency training, implementing Controller–Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLC)/Data Link technology, enforcing readback-hearback procedures, adopting Crew Resource Management (CRM) and Threat and Error Management (TEM), and improving fatigue risk management for ATCs. This study is expected to serve as a reference for AirNav Indonesia and aviation education institutions in enhancing communication standards to support Aviation Safety in Indonesia.
Rany Adiliawijaya Putriekapuja, Elfi Amir, Faktor Manusia et al.· Jurnal Ilmiah Dan Karya Maha...· 0 citations
The monograph Improving the Operational Efficiency of Road Transport presents a systematic scientific, methodological, and applied framework for improv- ing the performance of road transport enterprises under contemporary operating conditions. Road transport is treated as an open socio-technical and production- service system whose results depend on the interaction of rolling stock, personnel, infrastructure, demand, maintenance resources, digital information flows, safety requirements, environmental constraints, and economic feasibility. The publication is intended for students, postgraduate students, researchers, lecturers, transport en- gineers, fleet managers, logistics specialists, public transport planners, maintenance managers, and professionals involved in digital fleet management.
The relevance of the study is determined by the growing complexity of road transport operations: higher traffic intensity, unstable demand, increasing fuel and energy costs, staff shortages, stricter safety expectations, environmental pressure, and expanding dependence on digital information systems. Under these conditions, management based only on delayed reports and average indicators is insufficient. Operational efficiency is therefore interpreted not merely as cost reduction, but as the ability of the transport system to provide stable, safe, reliable, economically justified, environmentally responsible, and socially useful service.
The object of the study is the operational activity of road transport enterprises. The subject of the study is the set of technical, organizational, economic, and information-analytical mechanisms that determine fleet productivity, technical availability, service quality, cost efficiency, safety, and adaptability. The purpose of the monograph is to develop an integrated approach to the assessment and improvement of road transport operational efficiency by combining performance indicators, maintenance models, route and timetable decisions, telematics data, economic evaluation, and implementation monitoring.
The monograph systematizes production, technical, economic, service- quality, reliability, safety, environmental, and integrated indicators. Particular attention is paid to vehicle productivity, fleet technical availability, mileage uti- lization, load factor, fuel and energy consumption, downtime, maintenance cost, regularity, punctuality, delivery reliability, environmental performance, and user satisfaction. Each indicator is considered as a management instrument that should have a data source, responsible unit, threshold value, decision rule, and verification procedure.
Technical availability and maintenance are analyzed as central prerequisites for efficiency. The study considers preventive maintenance, corrective repair, pre- dictive diagnostics, failure-risk assessment, component life, workshop capacity, spare-parts planning, and maintenance prioritization. The maintenance system is interpreted as a subsystem that must minimize not only direct repair costs, but also downtime, emergency failures, repeated defects, safety risks, service cancellations, and long-term degradation of rolling stock.
Organizational reserves are examined through route and timetable planning, rolling-stock utilization, dispatching, driver work organization, operational disci- pline, and coordination with external stakeholders. The monograph shows that many efficiency losses are organizational rather than purely technical: they arise from unbalanced schedules, excessive empty mileage, weak reserve-vehicle management, insufficient terminal or customer coordination, delayed managerial reaction, and lack of standardized procedures.
A separate group of issues concerns digital technologies in operational man- agement. Telematics, GPS/AVL monitoring, onboard diagnostics, fuel and energy sensors, driver-behavior recorders, electronic ticketing, maintenance information systems, transport management systems, mobile applications, cloud platforms, dashboards, and digital twins are considered as elements of an integrated digital management environment. The text explains how raw records are transformed into trajectories, trips, indicators, alerts, forecasts, and managerial recommendations, while also emphasizing data quality, interoperability, cybersecurity, backup, and reliability of digital services.
The scientific novelty of the monograph lies in the integrated interpretation of road transport efficiency as a balanced result of technical readiness, organiza- tional coordination, economic feasibility, service quality, digital data reliability, and feedback-based management. The practical value lies in the possibility of using the proposed indicators, formulas, tables, models, and management procedures for enterprise efficiency programs, maintenance improvement, telematics implementa- tion, route optimization, investment prioritization, and educational work in road transport specialties. Keywords: road transport; operational efficiency; fleet management; technical availability; predictive maintenance; telematics; transport enterprise; digital fleet management; route optimization; maintenance organization.
Objectives: Command and control in emergency medical services (EMS) responses to major incidents and mass casualty events is supported by multiple established doctrines; however, variability in their operational integration persists across EMS systems. The objective of this manuscript is to present the development of Sistema de Mando y Control en Emergencias Sanitarias (SIMCES), a proof-of-concept EMS command-and-control framework intended to integrate established incident management doctrines with selected conceptual and operational innovations.Methods: SIMCES was developed using a practice-based design-thinking methodology informed by the Double Diamond process (Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver). The Discover phase was informed by frontline operational experience, informal multidisciplinary feedback, and an exploratory narrative review of the literature related to EMS incident management and major incident response. During the Define phase, recurrent operational challenges were mapped to established functional domains using the Command, Safety, Communication, Assessment, Triage, Treatment, Transport framework. In the Develop phase, proposed framework components were iteratively refined through structured, scenario-based theoretical walkthroughs across representative incident types, including mass casualty incidents, hazardous materials incidents, structural collapses, high-threat scenarios, and preplanned major events. The Deliver phase consisted of consolidating the framework and applying it in structured, paper-based scenario walkthroughs to explore internal coherence and applicability across different levels of incident complexity.Results: SIMCES is presented as an integrated, EMS-oriented framework that combines established doctrinal elements with selected conceptual innovations. The framework includes a four-level incident classification system; a cordon-based approach to zoning and sectorization; a three-tiered EMS command structure with standardized commander and officer roles; the tactical coordination and support cell as an organizational construct for managing operational information and resource coordination; the COMMAND mnemonic to structure transfer of command; the 1-3-3 rule to guide initial actions of first-arriving units; and the introduction of a white triage category in evacuation triage to document discharged or self-evacuated casualties.Conclusions: SIMCES is proposed as a proof-of-concept framework intended to support structured thinking about EMS command and control during complex incidents. The manuscript does not evaluate performance or outcomes. External validation is planned to examine content validity, acceptability, applicability, workload, and feasibility before any conclusions regarding effectiveness can be drawn.
Fernando Monforte-Escobar· Journal of Emergency Managem...· 0 citations
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