1202 - the human factors podcast by Barry Kirby C.ErgHF FCIEHF
Last Updated: October 25, 2025
Barry Kirby explores aspects of Human Factors, from practitioners in the field, through Processes and Tools that are useful (or not) and other Information and News that may be beneficial. For HF people to keep in touch and non-HF people to hear what we do.
Human Factors in Government - An interview with Sarah Sharples
Sarah Sharples, the Chief Scientific Officer for the Dept. of Transport and Past President of the CIEHF shares her thoughts on how Human Factors can engage with Government Policy development and how she champions HF within Government, both directly and indirectly.
Space Wales - An Interview with Rosie Cane
Rosie Cane, Cluster Manager for Space Wales, chats to Barry about what Space Wales is, how it works, and the opportunities for Human Factors and Ergonomics to add value to the sector.
Meet the President of the IEA - An interview with Andrew Thatcher
Andrew Thatcher, the newly elected president of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) shares his background and his vision for the IEA in the next three years.
When Podcasts Collide - Human in the Loop
Barry chats with Adam Smith and Rhian Williams-Skingley about their Human Factors Podcast Human in the Loop
Crossing the Streams - HF across domains with Filip Florek
Filip Florek joins Barry to discuss just how Human Factors tools and techniques can cross be used across domains.
Neurodiversity in Rail - An interview with Kimberley Harding
Kimberley Harding shares insights about why understanding and inclusion of Neurodiversity in the Rail sector is important, and provides an insight into the Neurodiversity in Rail Conference.
Cyber Risk Management - An Interview with Bec Mckeown
Bec Mckeown shares her thoughts and experiences of how to manage Cyber Risk in organisations both large and small.
Aerospace Wales and Human Factors - An interview with Rachael Blackburn
Rachael Blackburn, Director of Aerospace Wales, gives us an insight into the organisation and how HF practitioners within Wales can get involved.
Think Human - Planning the CIEHF 75th
Some of the team behind the upcoming Think Human Exhibition share what its about, what we can expect to see and how we can engage with it. With Mark Young, Ella-Mae Hubbard and Ellie King.
When Podcasts Collide - An interview with Sara Pazell
Sara Pazell is not only a Human Factors practitioner in Australia, and Barry wanted to chat about her perspectives on HF application but she is also a co-host on the Why Work Podcast, and they chat about that too.
Cyber from the Academic Perspective - An Interview with Phil Morgan
Prof. Phil Morgan from Cardiff University shares his experiences of being a researcher int he Cyber Security Domain and what is happening to get ahead.
Transatlantic Health Human Factors - An interview with Ken Catchpole
Ken discusses with Barry, the challenges and similarities of Healthcare Human Factors in both the UK and USA.
Insights into the Clinical Human Factors Group - An interview with Dawn Benson
Dawn Benson, the Programme Manager for the Clinical Human Factors Group, gives an insight into the aims and ambitions of the organisation in the future.
Cyber Human Vulnerability - An interview with Laura Bishop
Laura Bishop gives an insight into Human Vulnerability and risk as seen from the cyber perspective.
Human Factors in Air Traffic Control
Dr Nuno Cebola and Fran Slater from NATS talks about the application of Human Factors in Air Traffic Control
Early HF Careers in Canada - An interview with Madeline Shoot
Madeline Shoot gives us an insight into what its like being an Early Careers Human Factors Practitioner in Canada.
Medical Human Factors - An interview with Fran Ives
The application of HF in the Medical domain is a slowly evolving field, Fran Ives takes us through the breadth of opportunities and discusses the challenges that practitioners face.
Consulting in Human Factors - An interview with Brendan Hazlett
Barry talks with Brendan Hazlett about what it means to be a Consultant in the HF world, what the role is about and why he finds it an interesting career route.
HFESA - The Presidents Perspective - An interview with Sharon Todd
Sharon Todd gives us an insight into her background and career, as well as giving us insights into the challenges for HF in Australia.
Balancing Academia and industry in Human Factors - An interview with Dr Mark Young
Marks career has experiences from both sides of Industry and Academia and as he goes into his new role, he takes the time to reflect on how both sides can work together.
Human Factors Integration - An interview with Trevor Dobbins
Human Factors Integration (HFI) is a critical activity to ensure Human Factors activities are carried out in a planned way and that the appropriate assurance evidence is gathered. Trevor Dobbins shares some of his insights of delivering successful HFI.
Artificial Intelligence in Hospitals - An interview with Kate Preston
AI is all the rage at the moment, with the advent of ChatGPT and other AI tools hogging the limelight, Kate Preston who is not only studying the use of AI in the health domain but is also the co-chair of the CIEHF special Interest group of AI and Digital In Health gives us some insights from her Phd Studies.
Driving the CIEHF - An interview with the CEO Ben Peachey
Ben Peachey is the CEO of the CIEHF. In this interview he gives us insights into why he was keen to apply for the role, what he has achieved to date and where he sees the Institute going under his leadership.
Naturalistic Decision Making - An interview with Rob Hutton
Rob Hutton gives us an insight into Naturalistic Decision Making and how it takes methods out of the Lab.
Jenny Radcliffe - The People Hacker
Jenny Radcliffe gives insights into the domain of Social Engineering and Penetration Testing.
The Clinical Human Factors Group - An Interview with Martin Bromiley OBE
Martin Bromiley talks about his determination for more Human Factors in the medical domain and the formation of the Clinical Human Factors Group (CHFG).
Workplace assessments for Audio and Visually impaired staff - An Interview with Daniel Williams
Dan Williams shares his expertise in the need and value of conducting appropriate workplace assessments for audio and visually impaired staff.
Reflections on Human Factors applications - An interview with Steven Shorrock (AE)
Steven Shorrock gives us an overview of his career, with candid reflections on significant influences on his career. He reflects on how HF has evolved through his career and gives his thoughts on where it should go in the future.
2022 in review - What have you been engaging with?
2022 has been a year of, hopefully positive, change, with 20 episodes covering a wide range of topics. In this review, Barry highlights some of the most popular.
The CIEHF - behind the scenes - An interview with Tina Worthy
Tina Worthy is the COO of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors. She shares with us just how the organisation has achieved so much especially considering the relatively small number of staff, and where she sees it going in the future.
Rail Investigations - An interview with Becky Charles
Becky Charles is an investigator with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and in this interview she gives us insights into what the role is and how Human Factors is a key component of the overall team.
Proactive Learning - An interview with Dr Marcin Nazaruk
Current approaches to defining and understanding safety risk can be seen to rely heavily on incidents occurring or near misses being reported. Dr Marcin Nazaruk talks with Barry about a new approach he is driving called Proactive Learning, or in layman's terms, how we learn from normal work.
The Dirty Dozen - An interview with Michael Bates and Gordon Dupont
Michael Bates interviews Gordon Dupont about the creation of the "Dirty Dozen" the 12 main reasons behind why human error occurs.
Applying Human Factors on the ground - An interview with Suzy Broadbent
Suzy Broadbent is a Fellow of the CIEHF with twenty years experience working in Human Factors across defence, rail and now healthcare domains. She gave the Institute Lecture at EHF2022. This discussion looks back at her career and then dives into how we apply Human Factors methods with pragmatism and reflecting real world circumstances.
Publishing Human Factors books - An interview with Bob Bridger
Human Factors in Iarnród Éireann - An interview with Nora Balfe
Iarnród Éireann, or Irish Rail, has its own share of Human Factors Challenges, and the person with the challenge of ensuring HF is kept up to standard is Nora Balfe. In this episode, Nora gives us an insight into the breadth and depth of her role and some of the issues she has to deal with.
RAF Safety and Just Culture
Over the past decade or so, the Royal Air Force has been going through a cultural evolution. In this episode, Ian and Avril give us an insight into how the implementation of Human Factors and the attitudes to safety has evolved and the positive impact it has had on the organisation.
HF in Rail - An interview with David Golightly
David Golightly is a lecturer at Newcastle University and works in the field of cognitive ergonomics, understanding the factors that make technology and systems fit for the intended user's needs and cognitive abilities. In this episode he talks with Barry about the broad range of work he has been involved in across the rail industry, with a strong emphasis on the passenger experience and understanding the complexity of the rail network.
The Surgical approach to Human Factors - An interview with Peter Brennan
Professor Peter Brennan is a NHS Consultant Surgeon in Portsmouth, specialising in head and neck cancer. Barry talks with him to see how he is driving Human Factors approaches from his perspective. To date, Peter has published over 700 publications including more than 80 on Human Factors and patient safety. His HF work has changed the delivery of postgraduate surgery exam delivery in the UK and abroad.
HFES - The Presidents Perspective - An interview with Chris Reid
Chris Reid is the Human Factors and Ergonomics Boeing Technical Fellow within the Environment, Health and Safety organization at Boeing. He is also the current President at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). In this interview, he tells Barry how he fell into ergonomics, some of his achievements and ambitions for HFES and a few hints and tips for Barry for when he takes on the Presidency of the CIEHF.
Ergonomics and Human Factors Conference 2022 - Review
Barry talks to attendees and some of the key people behind the scenes about putting together EHF 2022 and what they thought of the result.
Farming, Decision Making and IOT - An interview with John Owen
In this podcast, Barry interviews John Owen, Project Manager at Gelli Aur Farm, Coleg Sir Gar, where they teach agriculture students about using future technologies in farming, as well as providing cutting edge research utilising sensor technologies and IOT.
The Burning Issue - An Interview with Nick Rutter from Fire Angel
Humans are currently blamed for the majority of damaging dwelling fires. An underlying reason behind that is a lack of knowledge of how people behave when waking up bleary eyed to a smoke or fire alarm. Nick Rutter, the co-founder of Fire Angel talks to Barry about how they are combining smoke and carbon monoxide alarms with IOT to gain more data into human behaviour and dangerous behaviour and habits.
Supporting Musculoskeletal Health - an interview with FLX Health and Arco
In this interview, the topic of musculoskeletal disorders are a leading cause of occupational ill health in the UK, accounting for 30% of all work-related ill health cases and 27% of lost working days. Affecting 14.9 million people nationally, and its costs the NHS over £5 billion per-year for treatment and support.
Human Factors in Healthcare - An Interview with Tony Andre
Tony Andre is the founder of Interface Analysis Associates and has decades of experience applying Human Factors in the healthcare setting. Additionally he also started the international symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare it 11 years ago and now it is the main event in the field. The latest is in March physically located in New Orleans. (You can still register and attend!) Plus the new human factors in healthcare journal.
Human Factors in Agriculture - An interview with Jill Poots
A domain that has always held an attraction is Agriculture, and even more so with the development of technology that is being utilised to enable fewer people on a farm to do a lot more. From GPS enabled tractors to the use of IOT technology to ensure the soil and water have exactly what is needed and when, as well as being able to predict weather windows for fertilising the land and harvesting crops.
Working from home - getting serious about furniture - An Interview with Guy Osmond
Working from home has been a necessity throughout the pandemic, but now the idea of Hybrid Working is the "new normal". As we move from necessity to normal, we should also be moving from the dining room chair to something that is going to properly support us. Guy Osmond has been on that journey throughout the pandemic with his ergonomic furniture business, and shares with us what we should be looking for.
What does 2022 hold?
An introduction to the 2022 programme, what can be expected and what are the opportunities.
Review of 2021 - With Jo Polson
We look back not only at 2021, but at all the podcasts to date and pick our favourites, as well as look at the other statistics such a location and popularity.
CPD in 2021 - An Interview with Fiona Cayzer
CPD deadlines are looming for 2021 and Dr. Fiona Cayzer gives us some insights into what we should be doing by the end of December. We also learn about what the Professional Affairs Board does in the CIEHF as well as about how she got into Human Factors.
What goes on under the bonnet of an Ergonomics Conference?
An interview with Dr. Nora Balfe, and Dr David Golightly, the co-Chairs of the Conference Proceedings about what goes on in the background of organising the Ergonomics Conference and what 2022 is shaping up like
Public Spaces and Aging Populations - An interview with Prof Charles Musselwhite
An interview with Professor Charles Musselwhite about his research into the design if public spaces and how we need to be thinking about the aging population. Not only embracing the fact that we all age, but that we should also have enjoyable spaces to engage with as we age.
Conscious Design - An Interview with Ian Peterman
Ian Peterman is the Autor of a new book, Conscious Design which has just launched.
When Podcasts Collide: Human Factors Cast. An interview with Nick Roome
Nick Roome is the creator and main host of Human Factors Cast, a weekly Human Factors podcast that looks at current news and events in the HF domain. In this interview he explains how the podcast came to being, how the different elements of it works, and his plans for the future.
Pushing the boundaries of Human Factors - An interview with Professor Paul Salmon
Paul Salmon is Professor in Human Factors and is the director of the Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems at the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Health, Fitness and Behaviour Change – an interview with Hec Salgado and José Martínez-Abarca
The modern trend of rushed lifestyles, fast food and fitness being for those who like to flex it in the gym could be drivers behind what some describe as a health epidemic. Barry Kirby has been on a 13 week journey with the team at FitnessTMB which takes a more behavioural approach and had led to him losing over 2 stone in weight. In this episode, Barry interviews the team at FitnessTMB, Hec Salgado and José Martínez-Abarca, to look under the bonnet of the programme and why behaviour change is at the core of what they do.
Fatigue Risk Management – An interview with Sarah Booth
Our Performance can be hugely affected by the amount of Sleep that we get. Yet it is one of those subjects that can be difficult to engage with, never mind manage. In this episode, Sarah Booth, an expert in Fatigue Risk management with Baines Simmons highlights some of the issues and mitigations that should be considered, and from a personal perspective, what we can do to get a good nights rest!
Deep Dive -Human Factors in Diving with Gareth Lock
This episode is a "deep dive" into the Human Factors aspects of Diving (see what I did there....). In this episode, Gareth talks about how he has brought his knowledge of Human Factors into the arena of Diving. In an industry that comprises a huge leisure and tourism sector as well as a military and police angle, Gareth highlights just how HF can play a huge part, as well as how he is overcoming the challenges of developing HF in a new sector.
Sensory Design, Wayfinding and #WorkshopOnACard – an Interview with Alastair Somerville
In a Bank Holiday Special, Barry caught up with Alastair Somerville, a Sensory Design Consultant who injects a much broader vision on UX by asking the question of "what are people capable of" rather than what they are not.
Just Culture – An interview with James Hayton
Culture is something that influences everything we do, so having the right culture can really make or break a business. in this episode, Barry interview James Hayton, the Human Factors and Safety Culture lead at Baines Simmons Ltd (https://www.bainessimmons.com/).
Users and Government Digital Strategy – an Interview with Lee Waters MS
To have a successful user experience takes more than just a good user interface, it needs to have the user centred approach at the core of the product and the business. In this episode I talk to Lee Waters MS, who (at the time of recording as there is now an election) is the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, and more importantly for this interview, the lead for AI and Digital in the Welsh Government.
VR, AR and XR in Human Factors- In discussion with Prof. Bob Stone
In a career that has spanned 41 years to date, Prof. Bob Stone has had significant input into the Human Factors domain as a whole, as well as more specifically the VR, AR and XR field. Despite his claim of being semi-retired, he is still involved in a great number of projects.
Human Factors on the other side of the world – An interview with Dr Karl Bridges
Dr Karl Bridges is the Managing Director of HFEx, based in New Zealand. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of New Zealand (HFESNZ) and is a past president too. He is also a fellow of the CIEHF.
Design for Everybody – An interview with CIEHF President -Amanda Widdowson
Being the CIEHF president is no mean undertaking, its a three year commitment, being the face of the Institute and representing members at different meetings and other organisations. But this year has been even more challenging because of the Pandemic. Amanda Widdowson was president-elect when the pandemic started and took over at the 2020 AGM from Bob Bridger.
Virtual Humans – Should we be concerned? An interview with David Burden
From engaging with "Commander Data" as a colleague, to future aggressors being machines like the Terminator, the Borg or Hal, the idea that computers will become more like humans and engage with us more naturally that a keyboard and mouse has generally been the area of science fiction. But in some respects the reality is closer than we think, from the chatbot you use on a company Facebook page, to the experimentation that is going on to capture, not only what people think, but the way people think is very much on todays agenda. This interview with David Burden, MD of Daden Ltd (https://www.daden.co.uk/) , and co-author of the book, Virtual Humans highlights the current development, but also a lot of the issues that have come to the surface as a result, including digital immortality and the ethics of using the data that is derived.
Continuing Professional Development in 2021 with Martin Thody
2020 certainly delivered its own curveball challenges on many working fronts and trying to do Continuing Professional Development (CPD) from the bedroom or kitchen table was certainly "interesting". In this podcast, I am joined by Martin Thody, who is the CIEHF CPD lead, to talk about what CPD looked like last year and what we can learn from it in 2021.
Air! with Prof Paul Lewis and Jo Polson
We breathe it every day and are very aware of the larger issues of air pollution and the future effect on humanity. But what about the day to day, what does it do to the performance of the human body and how should we be measuring it?
HF Tools for Embedded displays – A discussion with Matt Jackson
When this was recorded, it was the 1st birthday of this podcast, so Happy Birthday to us. There are precious few HF tools that are made with the input of HF practitioners who use them, but VAPS has been the mainstay of a number of my projects that rely on the ability to design an interface, implement it and for the embedded output to reflect what you started with.
Human Factors in NASA -An insight into HF on the Orion Programme.
Human Factors is applied to many domains, but perhaps one of the most challenging is the Space environment due to the very nature that it is not of this world. That, coupled with a challenge of a new space race, firstly with the mission to Mars, but also the commercialisation of the sector, makes working there a very exciting place. But it also helps to have the right people doing the right job.
AI and Digital Health SIG – An interview with Dr Mark Sujan
One of the areas where Human Factors is getting more traction is within the Healthcare sector. It is still a slow burner though with lots more work to be done, and this is getting more urgent as new technologies are available to make procedures and processes better and potentially support more effective patient outcomes.
Human Factors Trials – An interview with Vicki Wall FCIEHF
Many practitioners believe that working on Trials and Assessments, where equipment and systems that have been designed and developed are tested with users, are some of the most enjoyable parts of being involved in Human Factors. You get to see kit actually being used and getting feedback, both positive and negative, and discussing with them what can be done to improve the product.
CIEHF Defence Sector Group – An interview with Co-Chair Steve Harmer FCIEHF
Steve Harmer is the Human Factors capability lead for BMT Defence and Security. He was the winner of the "H Rowbotham Award for Outstanding Contribution to HFI" in 2015, and possibly his most rewarding role was being Barry's first line manager when they worked at BAE Systems in 2004......(Steve may disagree...)
Revolution in Tactical Training during lockdown – Edward Thody and Matthew Llewellyn
Farming PPE – Inspiring future collaboration
This podcast is more of a case study, looking at the phenomenon that is the "Frontline 3D Farms" where Rob Venus and Dr Dimitris Pletsas reacted to the drastic need for PPE to make it to the NHS Frontline. In discussion with both of them, we find out that this could just be the start of something disruptive and a game changer when it comes to collaboration between Community, Government, Industry and Academia.
Using Cyber in Covid-19 Lockdown – a discussion with Amanda Kirby
Amanda Kirby is a systems engineer and the research director of K Sharp. Whilst somewhat of a captive interviewee, she details her career path, and what drove her to engage in a traditionally male dominated workspace.
When Podcasts collide – Working from Home Tips from the Travelling Ergonomist
Many of us have been working at home for a week or so now, and perhaps the novelty is starting to wear off. In the coming weeks is when we will be at most risk of damaging ourselves, because we are "making do" at our dining table, bedroom or home office. To help steer us in the right direction, Kirsty Angerer, The Travelling Ergonomist took some time out to share with us some top tips, with a look at behaviours and culture as much as the specifics.
Meet the CIEHF Chief Exec – Dr Noorzaman Rashid
Meeting the man with the mission of navigating the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors through the next five years. Dr Noorzaman Rashid is the recently appointed Chief Executive and has a mission to take the Institute through the next part of its journey.
Human Factors in Space – An interview with Susan Buckle, UK Space Agency
Susan Buckle is the Education and Outreach Manager at the UK Space Agency. This is on the back of an enviable career at the European Space Agency. In this interview she talks about the role of Human Factors in astronaut training, working with Tim Peake, and using Space as a motivation to get more young people into STEM and STEAM subjects.
Automation and Human Factors – An interview with Dr Malcolm Cook
This episode looks at the evolution of Automation and in particular some of the things we should be considering from the Human Factors Viewpoint.
CPD – Tips for 2020 with Julia Clarke and Martin Thody
This podcast is timed to coincide with the start of the CPD year and brings together two experts in CPD who are also involved with the CPD assessment process for the CIEHF.
The Nuclear Option – An interview with Grant Hudson
This episode looks at the issues surrounding the application of Human Factors in the Nuclear Industry. Barry talks with Grant Hudson, the Head of Human Factors at Cavendish Nuclear. He finds out more about Grants career, ambitions as well as looking in detail at the challenges of delivering HF in the Civil Nuclear environment.
Welcome to 2020
Human Factors and In-Service Design
In this episode, Barry starts exploring how Human Factors techniques are being used, perhaps where we don't expect. Taking the interview complexity up a notch, he interviews both Phil Nutley and Chris Avis from CCD Design & Ergonomics. They are utilising both Service Design and Human Factors, taking the best of the tools and methods from both disciplines to deliver positive user experiences. This interview explores how both came from different backgrounds to their current roles, and how the crossover of disciplines delivers for clients and users.
Martin Thody: Human Factors CPD and Mentoring
Use of Standards in Human Factors
Political Maslow – Is voting intention linked to motivational need?
The Art of the User
Architecture of Wearable Technology
Digital Generations and Smart City Users
Agile Human Factors in the Defence Industry
Why 1202 – Episode 1 reveals all
1202 – The Human Factors Podcast – Trailer
In theory, I have recorded a trailer for a podcast I am putting together, it has a (cheesy) intro and outro and me burbling in between.
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