Disasters and Human Factors Literature

1. Disasters and Human Factors Literature Nestor L Osorio Northern Illinois University

2. Introduction The purpose of this project is to determine how the field of human factors is related to research done on disaster management according to the literature published in these fields. In order to accomplish this goal a major electronic abstracting journal was searched and the results were critically examined. A content analysis - an extensively used technique for this kind of study - of each bibliographic record, abstract, and subject terms was done. Finally, the bibliometric data obtained will be discussed.

3. Source of Data The electronic database of Ergonomics Abstracts was used to collect data. Ergonomics Abstracts is produced by the Ergonomics Information Center of the University of Birmingham, UK. This abstracting journal publishes nearly 6,000 abstracts per year, mainly from journals and conference proceedings, other documents and books are also included. The following elements are included in each citation of Ergonomics Abstracts: Abstract number; Authors; Source; Year, Volume and Issue; Pages; Abstract; Number of References; Original Language; Classification Term(s); Classification Number(s) and Application(s).

4. Methods About one thousand two hundred citations from Ergonomics Abstracts covering the period 1990-2002 were collected and analyzed. These citations are selected by doing key word searches that describe different aspects of disaster literature such as: preparedness, emergency, rescue, evacuation, risks, etc. Abstracts were evaluated to determine the relevancy of each citation, that is, citations that covered both disasters and human factors. A content analysis of the citations and abstracts obtained was done. The analysis included the following data: source of publication; place of publication of source; publication date; number of pages; original language of publication; and number of references. The principal Classification Term assigned to each document was tabulated. Also collected were the main terms describing Application for each document reported. A list of more frequently used classification terms and applications was generated.

5. Results The first group of data provided information about what the major publications are in the field of human factors that published papers on disaster. Lists of leading journals, conference proceedings, books and other publications were generated. The countries where these publications are produced will be tabulated. The number of documents per year published during the period selected (1990-2002) will be counted. In the case of articles from journals of conference proceedings the average number of pages per article and the average number of references per article will be obtained. Also, the most used languages will be tracked. From the Classification Term(s) obtained, a taxonomy of the terms used in Ergonomic Abstracts will provide an insight about the subject matters in human factors that are relevant to issues of disaster (prevention, preparedness, training, etc). Application terms collected provide information about the topics covered by the literature of human factors and disasters as relate to the physical situations. Application terms in this case mean the physical situation related to a disaster such as power plants, mines, buildings, airplanes, etc.

6. Results (continued) This list of terms determines also the relationship between human factors and disaster management. A cluster analysis of the top twenty Classification Terms has been done using the SAS statistical program. This cluster analysis identified significant clusters of terms within the literature. Application terms collected provide information about the topics covered by the literature of human factors and disasters as relate to the physical situations. Application terms in this case mean the physical situation related to a disaster such as power plants, mines, buildings, airplanes, etc.

7. Conclusion Twenty journals contain 68 percent of all articles citations. These twenty titles can be considered the core journal titles for disaster literature. The number of proceeding papers (203) and articles in journals (232) represent together 79 percent of all documents. Most publishers of books (including book chapters) are published in the United Kingdom and United States is second. The majority of reports are published in the United Kingdom and United States. Most conference proceedings papers are published in the United States and United Kingdom.

8. Conclusion (continued) Twelve conference proceedings published 31 percent of all proceeding papers. Twenty principal classification terms (one term per document) contain 61 percent of all documents founded (550). These classification terms can be considered the main topic areas of the literature. A co-occurrence citation analysis of these twenty classification terms provides some indications about the clustering of these topic areas. Six clusters are identified in the dendogram. Cluster 1: Evacuation procedures; Information and communication design; Rescue; Workload demands; Data collection and recording; Work design and organization for health and safety; Respiratory equipment. Cluster 2: Human reliability and system reliability; Signs; Errors, accuracy and reliability; Stress; Training; Education, training and safety procedures. Cluster 3: Decision-making and risk management; Modeling human characteristics. Cluster 4: Information systems and communication; Behavioural and social processes. Cluster 5: General health and safety; Low temperature. Cluster 6: Emergency services.