The 2021 Alstom Lecture was presented by Fiona Bird – Global Head of Human Factors & Ergonomics, Passenger Flow and Evacuation at Alstom. Fiona described the challenges, wins and lessons learnt of integrating Human Factors into Rolling Stock Engineering.

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Derby’s Litchurch Lane site has been developing its Human Factors (HF) capabilities since the late 1980’s when passengers were still often referred to as ‘self-loading perishable freight’ and now has over 30 years’ experience of integrating Human Factors into its global rolling stock engineering programmes.  This presentation shared the story of how HF has evolved from the ‘can they reach, do they fit ‘ type application and physical assessment of Ergonomic principles by Industrial Designers to the present day with a more ‘human centric approach to design and the spheres of influence where a global human factors approach is applied around the world.  Fiona discussed the successes as well as the challenges facing the global human factors discipline as we enter a new decade of Human Factors integration under our new owners – Alstom.

Photo courtesy of Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash