UNIT 2 HUMAN PERFORMANCE Page 1 of 14

HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Human Performance is the accomplishment of a task in accordance with agreed upon
standards of accuracy, completeness, and efficiency.

Human performance is all about the limits the body can go to. Whether it is in extreme
conditions, performing a repetitive task, or what a normal effort is and at what point will
is fatigue, strain or injure you.

Human performance includes strength limits, reach limits, how well you can hear and
see, how fast you can do something, endurance, how long it takes to recover from
exertion, etc.

Anthropometry tells us how big people are. Body mechanics tells us how people move.
Human performance uses that and tells us what the body is capable of and how efficient it
is at it.

What is the body actually capable of?

How much can it lift?
How far can you jump?
Can you read the markings at that distance?

Human performance generally is divided into two main categories:

1) Limitations

Human limitations can be both absolute and restrictive. We cannot see certain spectrums
of light. We cannot breathe underwater.

The next area is things that we have reduced capability. You can be exposed to heat for a
certain amount of time before the skin burns.

2) Training and skill levels

The skill and training level of a person plays a major role in his performance capability.
Most people can lift 40 pounds.

Highly trained weight lifters can lift 500 pounds. Most people can hit the side of a barn
with a gun. Snipers can hit a quarter at half a mile.
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PERFORMANCE INFLUENCING FACTORS (PIFS)

Performance Influencing Factors (PIFs) are the characteristics of the job, the individual
and the organisation that influence human performance. Optimising PIFs will reduce the
likelihood of all types of human failure.

Job factors
Clarity of signs, signals, instructions and other information
System/equipment interface (labelling, alarms, error avoidance/ tolerance
Difficulty/complexity of task
Routine or unusual
Divided attention
Procedures inadequate or inappropriate
Preparation for task (e.g. permits, risk assessments, checking)
Time available/required
Tools appropriate for task
Communication, with colleagues, supervision, contractor, other
Working environment (noise, heat, space, lighting, ventilation)

Person factors
Physical capability and condition
Fatigue (acute from temporary situation, or chronic)
Stress/morale
Work overload/underload
Competence to deal with circumstances
Motivation vs. other priorities

Organisation factors
Work pressures e.g. production vs. Safety
Level and nature of supervision / leadership
Communication
Peer pressure
Clarity of roles and responsibilities
Consequences of failure to follow rules/procedures
Effectiveness of organisational learning (learning from experiences)
Organisational or safety culture, e.g. everyone breaks the rules
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EFFECT OF LIGHTING ON PERFORMANCE IN THE WORKPLACE

There are certain factors that everyone knows affect workplace productivity, but there is
one important factor often overlooked by most employers across the globe: lighting.
Sure, its common knowledge that reading in the dark can harm your eyes, but lighting
has effects well beyond that, and an employers choice of lighting can have a significant
impact on the productivity of her company.

Why is good lighting at work important?

Everyone using the workplace. The quicker and easier it is to see a hazard, the more
easily it is avoided. The types of hazard present at work therefore determine the lighting
requirements for safe operation.

Poor lighting can not only affect the health of people at work causing symptoms like
eyestrain, migraine and headaches, but it is also linked to Sick Building Syndrome in new
and refurbished buildings. Symptoms of this include headaches, lethargy, irritability and
poor concentration.
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Low Level Lighting / Dim Lights

From the workers perspective, poor lighting at work can lead to eyestrain, fatigue,
headaches, stress and accidents.

Dim lights, can be detrimental to productivity for several reasons. First, dim lighting can
cause eye strain and headaches, because, when lighting is inadequate, the eyes are
forced to work much harder in order to see.

Dim lighting can also result in drowsiness and lack of focus, which would obviously have
a negative impact on employee motivation.

High Level Lighting / Harsh Lights

Harsh lighting, is much more common than dim lighting and is just as harmful. Florescent
lighting, especially, has a number of negative effects on employees, as it has been
known to cause eye strain, and it is also cited as a trigger for migraine headaches.

Too much light can also cause safety and health problems such as glare headaches and
stress. This harsh lighting also makes it more difficult for the eye to focus, so alternatives
should be sought whenever possible.

Natural Lighting as a Superior Alternative

The best alternative to harsh lighting and dim lighting systems is natural light itself.

In a study conducted in Britain and published in The Responsible Workplace, it was

shown that windows were the number one determinant of the occupants level of
satisfaction with a building. This effect is due to lightings ability to affect the human body
in two ways: directly, in the form of affecting what and how well we are able to see, and
indirectly, in the form of effects on our mood, behavior, and even hormonal balance.

Natural lighting renovations have been shown to result in happier workers, less
absenteeism, and fewer illnesses, and, because better lighting encourages satisfaction
among workers, it also results in increased productivity.

Why is artificial light a concern?

Artificial light is composed of visible light as well as some ultraviolet (UV) and infrared
(IR) radiations, and there is a concern that the emission levels of some lamps could be
harmful for the skin and the eyes. Both natural and artificial light can also disrupt the
human body clock and the hormonal system, and this can cause health problems. The
ultraviolet and the blue components of light have the greatest potential to cause harm.
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Managing lighting problems

Improvements in lighting do not necessarily mean that you need more lights and
therefore use more electricity it is often a case of:

making better use of existing lights;

making sure that all lights are clean and in good condition (see below);
ensuring that lights are positioned correctly for each task; and
making the best use of natural light.
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EFFECT OF NOISE LEVEL ON PERFORMANCE IN THE WORKPLACE

Noise exposure can cause two kinds of health effects. These effects are:

1) non-auditory effects and

2) auditory effects

Non-auditory effects include stress, related physiological and behavioural effects, and
safety concerns.

Auditory effects include hearing impairment resulting from excessive noise exposure.
Noise-induced permanent hearing loss is the main concern related to occupational noise
exposure.

A. AUDITORY EFFECTS:
The main auditory effects include:

1) Acoustic trauma:

Sudden hearing damage caused by short burst of extremely loud noise such as a gun
shot.

2) Tinnitus:

Ringing or buzzing in the ear.

3) Temporary hearing loss:

Also known as temporary threshold shift (TTS) which occurs immediately after exposure
to a high level of noise. There is gradual recovery when the affected person spends time
in a quiet place. Complete recovery may take several hours.
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4) Permanent hearing loss:

Permanent hearing loss, also known as permanent threshold shift (PTS), progresses
constantly as noise exposure continues month after month and year after year. The
hearing impairment is noticeable only when it is substantial enough to interfere with
routine activities. At this stage, a permanent and irreversible hearing damage has
occurred. Noise-induced hearing damage cannot be cured by medical treatment and
worsens as noise exposure continues.

When noise exposure stops, the person does not regain the lost hearing sensitivity. As
the employee ages, hearing may worsen as "age-related hearing loss" adds to the
existing noise-induced hearing loss.

B. NON-AUDITORY EFFECTS
Hearing loss from long term exposure to noise has been recognized as a hazard for a
long time. Reported non-auditory effects of noise include increased stress,
cardiovascular function (hypertension, changes to blood pressure and/or heart rate),
annoyance, sleeping problems, and mental health.

In the workplace, non-auditory effects of noise also include problems with oral
communications.

Non-auditory effects can be divided into two categories:

1) physiological effects and

2) performance effects

1) Physiological effects
The physiological effects can be temporary or permanent.

Examples of temporary physiological effects are:

The startling response to loud noise, where muscles burst into activities, generally,
with the intention to protect.
The muscle tension response, where muscles tend to contract in the presence of loud
noise.
The respiratory reflexes, where the respiratory rhythm tends to change when noise is
present.
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Changes in the heart beat pattern.

Changes in the diameter of the blood vessels, particularly in the skin.

2) Performance Effects
Noise can interfere with verbal communications and can be stressful, distracting and
annoying.

Below are some examples of how these factors can affect work performance.

i. Speech intelligibility

Speech intelligibility is the ability to understand spoken words. The presence of noise
interferes with the understanding of what other people say, including hearing safe work
instructions. This exchange includes face-to-face talks, telephone conversations, audible
danger/warning signals, and speech over a public address system.

In order to be intelligible the sound level of speech must be greater than the background
noise at the ear of the listener. People with otherwise unnoticeable hearing loss find it
difficult to understand spoken words in noisy surroundings.

ii. Annoyance

Noise is annoying. In noisy environments, people generally prefer to reduce the noise
loudness, avoid it, or leave the noisy area if possible. The same noise could be annoying
to some people but acceptable to others. There is no definite relationship between the
degree of annoyance or unpleasantness of noise and the risk of adverse health effects.

iii. Job interference

Depending of the type of activity, noise can severely affect efficiency of a task
performance. The following examples will illustrate this point:

A conversation nearby will distract a person and affect their concentration, hence
reducing the employee's efficiency.
A noisy environment could create an additional hazard, since audible alarms might not
be heard.
A noisy environment interferes with oral communication and thus, interferes with the
activity.
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MEMORY PERFORMANCE
General health and lifestyle are important factors that contribute to memory capacity.
Alcohol and drug use and smoking tobacco have all been proven to contribute to
memory loss. Sleep deprivation can also cause memory disturbances, according to
WebMD.

Age is one of the significant factors that affect memory. Age-related memory change
involves physical changes to the brain, but can be ameliorated by staying active
physically, mentally and socially.

Some medical conditions have a direct effect on memory and can cause memory loss.
They include thyroid issues, heart problems, dementia, HIV and stroke, which affects the
brain directly. Head injuries can cause varying levels of memory loss.

Emotional issues like depression, chronic stress and anxiety can lessen the ability to
remember things. Some medications also affect memory, including anti-depressants,
hypertensive drugs, anti-anxiety medications and even antihistamines.

Menopause and other hormonal issues and changes can have a direct effect on memory.
Poor diet, especially as it relates to fats and cholesterol, also affect the ability to
remember.

FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN MEMORY

Positive Factors:

physical activity (exercise);

mental activity (educational experiences, reading, crosswords, etc.);
social activity (new experiences);
healthy diet (lower fat and lower cholesterol)

Negative Factors:

medical disorders and diseases (thyroid problems, heart problems, stroke);

emotional problems (depression, anxiety); medication (some anti-depressants,
some anti-histamines, anti-anxiety and high blood pressure medications);
medical changes (menopause and other hormonal changes);
poor diet (high fat, too high cholesterol, too low cholesterol)
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FACTORS AFFECTING HUMAN MEMORY PERFORMANCE

1. Attention Span:
Attention span is the length of time for which a person is able to concentrate on a
particular activity or subject. The more the attention span of a person, the better is his
memory and memory performance.

A person with a good attention span can concentrate better and for longer period on an
activity, thus capturing more information concerning the work he is doing. He is better
able to assimilate his task and process information.

2. Time of exposure to information:

The time of exposure of a person to information is a critical factor to his memory
performance. The greater the time of exposure to information, the more information the
person can collect, assimilate and process. With much information, a person understands
better and performs his task more efficiently.

Too little time of exposure results in lack of information and misinterpretation of the task
at hand and hence, the work may often be wrongly done.

3. Fatigue:
Fatigue affects the memory of a person. When a person is tired or suffers from fatigue,
this causes mental stress which in turn affects memory performance.

4. Age:
With age, a persons cell deteriorates and some part may even die. The same applies to
the brain. With age, the brain becomes old, some cells deteriorate and die. This reduces
the performance of the brain and in turn, the memory. This is why a young person is
sharper than an old person.

5. Complexity of information:
Information can be simple or complex. Simple information can easily be grasped,
processes and acted upon. On the other hand, the more complex the information, the
harder it is to assimilate, process and put into practice.

Hence, simple information increases memory performance while complex information

decreases memory performance.
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6. Artificial stimulants:
Stimulants (also referred to as psycho stimulants) are psychoactive drugs that induce
temporary improvements in either mental or physical functions or both. These
substances cause temporary improvement of memory performance by boosting the
performance of cells. However, there is much doubt over their long term effects on the
brain.

7. Depressants:
A depressant is a drug that lowers neurotransmission levels, which is to depress or
reduce arousal or stimulation, in various areas of the brain. This is the opposite of
artificial stimulants and slows down the performance of the brain.

8. Over confidence:
The overconfidence effect is a well-established bias in which a person's subjective
confidence in his or her judgments is reliably greater than the objective accuracy of
those judgments, especially when confidence is relatively high. The person usually
thinks too highly of himself.

The effect on memory performance is that the performance may be affected since the
user may neglect small details due to this over confidence and can perform the job
wrongly.

9. Boredom:
Boredom is a discomfort that a user experiences due to lack of activity and having
nothing to do. Due to this discomfort, the user is irritated and cannot concentrate on the
task at hand. Hence, memory performance is affected.

10. Repetitive Work:

Repetitive work causes discomfort. The user is irritated and cannot concentrate on the
task at hand. Hence, memory performance is affected.

CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENTS & RISK OCCURENCE

1. Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of being enclosed in a small space or room and having no
escape. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators crowded to
capacity, windowless rooms, and even tight-necked clothing.
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People experiencing claustrophobia tend to remain anxious and this anxiety affects their
work. They cannot concentrate and focus at the work at hand and as such, this often
results in accident. There is also the feeling to restlessness and the user will try his best
to finish his work as quickly as possible and this can be another source of risk at work.

2. Fear of Height (Acrophobia)

Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is
not particularly high up. Acrophobia sufferers can experience a panic attack in high
places and become too agitated to get themselves down safely.

When someone is fearful, they tend to focus solely on the object or situation that is
scaring them, to the exclusion of anything else. As long as the person holds the fear in
check, it can lead to continuous risk assessment as they try to ensure their safety. If
unchecked, the persons estimate of the danger increases exponentially, to the point that
anxiety and distress can cause them to freeze and/or become a danger to themselves
and others.

Falls from height are associated with more fatal and major/specified injuries to workers
than any other kind of injury.

3. Limited Access
Limited access in the workplace represents a highly troublesome situation for a worker.
Performing tasks in such conditions causes great discomfort as well as inaccuracy. In
such situations, many workers tend to do the work in a neglectful manner and in doing
so, can do the task wrongly or can neglect safety norms at work. This often leads to
accidents when the worker does not take enough precautions.

4. Confined Space
Almost any workplace can have confined spaces. Examples include septic tanks, silos,
reaction vessels, sewage digesters, vats, boilers, pumping and lift stations.

A confined space as one that is: large enough for a worker to enter completely and
perform assigned tasks; not designed for continuous occupancy by workers (or anyone
else); and has a limited or restricted means of entry or exit.

What makes confined spaces particularly dangerous is that the risk of exposure to
atmospheric toxins or other hazards is compounded because of the very element of
confinement, the limited access to the space and the restricted air flow.
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5. Time Constraints
Time constraint is the insufficient time given to perform a specific task. It usually leads to
constant anxiety and pressure on the workers and to try to cope with the pressure, many
workers become neglectful and perform inefficiently at work. Such performance can
lead to health hazards in the workplace.

6. Poor vision
Poor vision is the inefficient performance of the eyes. The first risk of poor vision is the
misinterpretation of information. The second risk is the inability to identify hazard spots
in advance and hence being unable to protect one from these hazards.

Another major risk is that poor vision causes loss of balance and this is particularly
dangerous for workers working at high altitude or on scaffolding.

7. Environmental Extremes
These are the prolonged exposure to both high and low temperatures.

Because humans are warm-blooded, the body maintains a fairly constant temperature.
The human body burns fuel and manufactures heat to keep temperatures within safe
limits. Exposure to cold temperatures may cause the body's internal temperatures to fall
below safe limits. This occurs when the body loses heat faster than it can produce it. As
the body loses heat, blood vessels in the skin constrict to conserve internal heat. If the
body continues to lose heat, involuntary shivers may occur. Additional heat loss may
cause the brain to become less efficient, produce speech difficulty, forgetfulness,
disorientation, loss of manual dexterity, collapse, and, possibly, death.

Just as cold temperatures can adversely affect the body, so does work in hot
environments. To keep internal temperatures within safe limits, the body must get rid of
excess heat when the air temperature is high. This is achieved primarily through the
varying rate and depth of blood circulation and the evaporation of sweat from the skin.
As the heart begins to pump more blood, blood vessels expand to accommodate the
increased flow, the blood circulates to the surface of the skin, and excess heat is lost into
the cooler atmosphere.

As air temperatures approach normal skin temperature, the body has a harder time
cooling itself. Periods of high humidity make the problem worse. Under these conditions,
hard physical work becomes more difficult to perform. In turn, work in such an
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environment may lead to an increase in worker accidents, illnesses, and fatalities, as well
as a decrease in the affected worker's health, efficiency, and performance capacities.

8. Peer Pressure
There are certain risk factors for peer pressure, personality traits that make you more
prone to give in to pressure. The traits that put you at higher risk for falling in to the peer
pressure trap include:

low self esteem

lack of confidence
uncertainty about ones place within a given peer group
no personal interests exclusive of one's peer group
feeling isolated from peers and/or family
poor academic abilities or performance
fear of one's peers
lack of strong ties to friends
feeling that friends could turn on you
close bond with a bully

Since people are social animals, they tend to form groups or gangs in the offices,
which are closed groups, who do not accept other employees easily. Employee groups
tend to go out for parties, outings etc which on one hand creates a strong bond amongst
the group members, but the other employees tend to drift apart. Over a period of time,
these groups within an organization tend to disrupt the flow in an organization as
employees tend to have a feeling of inhibition when working with them. Personal peer
pressure forces employees to change their attitude and behaviour, which in the long run
creates problems in the functioning of the organization.