Human Factors Guidelines for Locomotive Cabs RR928/R9228 6
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Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED November 1998 Final Report April 1994 -May 1998 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Human Factors Guidelines for Locomotive Cabs RR928/R9228 6. AUTHOR(S) Jordan Multer, Robert Rudich, Kevin Yearwood 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION U.S. Department of Transportation REPORT NUMBER Research and Special Programs Administration John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center DOT-VNTSC-FRA-98-8 55 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02142-1093 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING U.S. Department of Transportation AGENCY REPORT NUMBER Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research and Development DOT/FRA/ORD-98/03 400 7th Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20590 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) This document presents human factors guidelines for the evaluation of the locomotive cab. These guidelines are part of an effort to evaluate working conditions and safety in the locomotive cab. The guidelines will serve as a decision-making tool for evaluating current and proposed locomotive designs and in particular Association of American Railroads (AAR) standards for defining industry requirements in cab design. The human factors concerns addressed by the guidelines can be divided into two themes: working conditions and information technology. Chapters within the guidelines address the following topics: heating, ventilation, air conditioning, noise, vibration, toilet facilities, general considerations for cab layout, ingress and egress, visibility, seating and workstation design. Workstation design includes both hardware and software issues. Within each chapter, human factors considerations are presented within the context of relevant operational issues and specific recommendations are offered. The guidelines were developed from a variety of sources. Journal articles, handbooks, reference guides and papers applicable to human-machine systems in general as well as literature specific to the problems of locomotive cab design and operation were examined. To make the guidelines as relevant as possible, members of the railroad community (major railroads, manufacturers, AAR, the railroad unions) were consulted. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 230 human factors, locomotive cab, design guidelines, locomotive design, working conditions, safety 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 298-102 PREFACE In 1992, Congress passed legislation (PL 102-365), requiring the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to complete rulemaking activities relating to the improvement of safety and working conditions in locomotive cabs. The FRA is charged with the task of assessing standards developed by the Association of American Railroads (AAR) on crashworthiness and working conditions that affect safety and productivity. As part of this effort, the FRA conducted research to address these issues. The development of human factors guidelines for the locomotive cab is part of the FRA's research effort to evaluate working conditions and safety in the locomotive cab. The guidelines will serve as a decision-making tool for evaluating current and proposed locomotive designs and, in particular, standards developed by the AAR for defining basic industry requirements in cab design. Human factors guidelines can aid in the design and evaluation of new or existing locomotive cabs. While there is a rich body of human factors research, for the most part it was not written and organized for use by those developing or evaluating complex systems, like the locomotive cab. The available literature is located in diverse places that include journal articles, technical publications, textbooks and conference proceedings. Where there are human factors guidelines available, they are often general in nature and have not been tailored to accommodate the specific requirements of the railroad environment. This document represents the beginning of a process. Our understanding of human factors issues affecting locomotive engineers and others who work in the cab is still incomplete. As this document is being prepared, many of the issues surrounding the incorporation of new information technology are still being debated. The currently available literature frequently does not address the capabilities of this new technology (Rogers and Myers, 1993). Future research and continuing dialogue will be needed as the locomotive cab evolves to incorporate this new technology. How the locomotive engineer will interact with this new technology should be a central part of this debate. To develop the guidelines, the authors collected and reviewed papers, handbooks, reference guides applicable to human-machine systems in general as well as materials specific to the problems of locomotive cab design and operation. To make the guidelines as relevant as possible, members of the railroad community were consulted (the major railroads, manufacturers, AAR and the railroad unions) to better understand the current problems with current cab designs and obtain a sense of what the future needs are likely to be. In presenting guidelines for evaluating the design of locomotive cabs, current human factors concerns can be divided into two broad themes: working conditions and the incorporation of information technology. Environmental working conditions (e.g., noise and seating) and how it affects operator performance have been a concern of the railroads, manufacturers and train engineers for many years. The second theme revolves around the incorporation of information technology into the locomotive cab. The problems of how to incorporate new information technology, in particular, advanced command, control and communication systems, is a more recent concern and is growing in importance. iii Most of this report focuses on issues related to working conditions. This emphasis reflects the concerns of engineers who have identified many of the ergonomic problems within the locomotive cab. Currently, those concerns center on crew comfort. As those problems are solved, the relative effort focusing on information processing as it relates to train control will grow. Working conditions In the past, locomotive cab designs evolved without the benefit of human factors support (Gamst, 1975). Crew comfort in the cab compartment trailed that found in passenger compartments and other working environments. Noise, ventilation, and seating are three examples of problem areas that affected crew comfort, safety, and productivity. Although human factors considerations are an important consideration in the design of the current generation of locomotives, the long service life of locomotives means that these concerns will exist for some time. Approximately, 19 percent of locomotives in service in 1994 were built before 1970 (AAR, 1994). Thus, noise levels in a significant number of cabs exceed federal regulations for this working environment and are loud enough to permanently impair hearing (Gamst, 1975). Railroads have responded to this problem by providing hearing protection equipment. The lack of proper ventilation in the cab results in hot and cold spots in cab, inadequate heating in cold weather, and inadequate cooling in hot weather as well as noxious fumes vented inside the cab (Gamst, 1975). These conditions contribute to health problems and crew fatigue. In terms of physical accommodations, the lack of appropriate seating is one of most thoroughly documented problems in the cab environment and can contribute to fatigue and injury. Other important human factors concerns with working conditions in the cab include: safely entering and exiting the cab, adequate visibility, and sanitary toilet facilities. Incorporating information technology As we approach the twenty-first century, manufacturers and railroad operators are introducing new information technology into the locomotive cab in an attempt to improve train control. The incorporation of this technology will affect how the locomotive engineer performs his or her job. In this document, concerns for incorporating the new information technology into the locomotive revolve around the interface with which the locomotive engineer will interact with to receive information and control train movements. In the past, this interface consisted of electromechanical