Integrating Human Factors in the design of Safety Critical Systems - A barrier based approach

Human factors contribute to risk in safety critical systems. However, current approaches to integrating human factors issues in the development of safety critical systems appear not fully sufficient. In this paper a new approach is proposed based on a technique from chemical engineering risk analysis called Safety Modelling Language (SML). SML provides a way to conceptually design risk reduction based on barriers. The approach further helps to design and implement safety barriers. The approach is demonstrated using a case in which human factors play an important role from the medical domain.