TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Reliability in NDT and the influence of human factors N2 - This presentation offers a holistic view on the assessment of reliability of NDT including the intrinsic reliability (typically expressed in terms of probability of detection (POD) curves), application, human and organisational factors. In addition to POD, advanced methods such as multiparameter POD, volume POD and POD for combined data are presented. Human and organisational factors in NDT require a systematic approach, i.e. it is not just the individual that determines how the inspections are carried out but also the interactions of individuals with the technology, team, organisation and the extra-organisational environment. Lessons learned from the literature as well as from own studies are presented. T2 - DFG SHM Netzwerk CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 27.01.2020 KW - Human Factors KW - Non-destructive testing (NDT) KW - Reliability PY - 2020 AN - OPUS4-51919 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - The Past and the Future of Human Factors: The “Uncontrollable” Aspect of NDT Reliability? N2 - That human factors (HF) affect the reliability of NDT is not novelty. Still, when it comes to reliability assessments, the role of people is often neglected. Reliability is typically expressed in terms of POD curves, and the effects of human and organisational factors on the inspection are typically tackled by the regulations, procedures and by the qualification and training of the inspection personnel. However, studies have shown that even the most experienced personnel can make mistakes and that the reliability in the field is never as high as the reliability measured in the POD experiments. Generally, HF are considered too unpredictable and too uncontrollable to model. If that is the fact, then what can we do? The engineering perspective to this problem has often been to find ways to automate inspections and, recently, to make use of artificial intelligence tools to decrease the direct effect of people on the inspection results and improve the overall efficiency and reliability. However, despite automation and AI, people remain the key players, though their tasks change. The contemporary approach to HF is not to engineer them out of the system but to design human-machine systems that make the best use of both. In this talk, ways of tackling HF in the design of systems and processes will be presented. T2 - Reliability of NDT webinar, The Scottish Branch of the British Institute of NDT CY - Online meeting DA - 29.01.2021 KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - NDT KW - Human Factors KW - Reliability PY - 2021 UR - www.bindt.org/admin/Downloads/2021-01%20BINDT_Bertovic_Human%20factors_new.pdf AN - OPUS4-53544 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Blankschän, M. A1 - Kanzler, D. A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Rosenthal, Martina A1 - Liebich, R. T1 - Influence of illuminance on indication detectability during visual testing N2 - Visually detecting irregularities on components is a complex process, influenced by physical, technical, and human factors. Current standards mainly focus on illuminance, demanding highest accuracy for it, without providing scientific justification. In this research, 63 inspectors visually inspected forgings, with and without crack-like indications. The influence of illuminance on probability of detection was investigated. Therefore, illuminance was varied in three steps (200 lx, 350 lx, 500 lx). Human factors (e.g., experience, motivation) were recorded by using questionnaires. The results show no significant difference in probability of detection between the three illuminance levels. Equal probability of detection rates could be achieved at illuminances below and at the required threshold (500 lx). A difference in illuminance was found between the measurement point and the test area of the respective participant. This leads to higher assumed illuminance than present on the component. Compared with the measurement accuracy of the used illuminance meter, none of these deviations could be used to explain the similar results at different illuminance. The fact that illuminance has a significant influence in detecting indications has been disproven for this case. Whether human factors can provide explanation for the results remains unclear. This will be investigated in further research. KW - Illuminance KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Probability of detection KW - Reliability KW - Visual inspection PY - 2022 DO - https://doi.org/10.1515/mt-2022-0112 VL - 64 IS - 10 SP - 1532 EP - 1543 PB - De Gruyter AN - OPUS4-56019 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Given, Joseph A1 - Rentala, V. K. A1 - Lehleitner, Johannes A1 - Kanzler, D. A1 - Heckel, Thomas A1 - Tkachenko, Viktoriya T1 - Human Factors in der POD - ist das möglich? N2 - Menschliche Faktoren sind ein häufig genanntes Thema, wenn wir über die Zuverlässigkeit der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung (ZfP) sprechen. Die Probability of Detection (POD), das üblicherweise verwendete Maß für die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP, betrachtet jedoch nur die technische Fähigkeit eines ZfP-Systems, einen Fehler zu entdecken. Nach mehreren Jahrzehnten der Erforschung des Einflusses der menschlichen Faktoren auf die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP gibt es immer noch keinen allgemein akzeptierten Ansatz, um menschliche Faktoren in der Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung sichtbar zu machen. Dieser Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über verschiedene verfügbare Methoden zur Einbeziehung menschlicher Faktoren in die Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung. Das Thema ist ein essenzieller Bestandteil des laufenden WIPANO-Projekts "normPOD", das sich als Ziel gesetzt hat, die Standardisierung der Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung in Deutschland voranzutreiben und im Vergleich zu den schon bekannten internationalen Normen einen Fokus auf den Umgang mit den menschlichen Faktoren zu legen. T2 - DGZfP Jahrestagung 2022 CY - Kassel, Germany DA - 23.05.2022 KW - Human factors KW - Zuverlässigkeit KW - POD KW - Probability of detection KW - Reliability PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-559942 SP - 1 EP - 15 AN - OPUS4-55994 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Kanzler, D. A1 - Rentala, V. K. A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Heckel, Thomas A1 - Tkachenko, Viktoriya A1 - Given, Joseph A1 - Keßler, S. A1 - Dethof, F. A1 - Jüngert, A. A1 - Vrana, J. T1 - Lasst uns mal POD standardisieren! N2 - Seit beinahe 50 Jahren werden Zuverlässigkeitsbewertungen zerstörungsfreier Prüfverfahren erfolgreich in unterschiedlichen Industriebranchen eingesetzt. Dennoch gibt es weiterhin viele Vorbehalte, da die Bewertungsgrundlage nicht standardisiert ist und konkrete Handlungsanweisungen fehlen. Dem gegenüber steht die Anerkennung in der ZfP-Community. Es ist bisher nur Wenigen bekannt, dass dem Wissen über die Zuverlässigkeit eines zerstörungsfreien Prüfverfahren eineSchlüsselfunktion für die ZfP 4.0 zukommt. Im Vortrag wird die Notwendigkeit für eine Norm oder eine Richtlinie zum Thema Zuverlässigkeitsbewertungen aufgezeigt. Es wird darauf eingegangen, warum es bisher (in Deutschland) noch keine Richtlinie gab und gibt und was der:die Anwender:innen aus einer Richtlinie zur Zuverlässigkeitsbewertung von ZfP-Prüfverfahren erwarten kann. Es werden konkrete Schritte und Vorgehensweisen zur Bewertung der Zuverlässigkeit eines Verfahrens aufgezeigt; von der Definition eines Anwendungsfalls, über die Herstellung geeigneter Testkörper bis hin zur Durchführung und Bewertung von Prüfungen unter Einbeziehung von menschlichen Einflüssen. Die Beispiele umfassen sowohl Anwendungen aus dem Bauwesen als auch aus dem Maschinen- und Anlagenbau. Der Vortrag fasst die bisherigen und geplanten Arbeiten in dem WIPANO Projekt „Normung für die probabilistische Bewertung der Zuverlässigkeit für zerstörungsfreie Prüfverfahren“ zusammen. T2 - DGZfP Jahrestagung 2022 CY - Kassel, Germany DA - 23.05.2022 KW - Zuverlässigkeit KW - POD KW - Probability of detection KW - Reliability KW - Human Factors KW - Simulation PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-560113 SP - 1 EP - 10 AN - OPUS4-56011 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - The first insights into the human factors in the inspection of railway axles N2 - The field of human factors has been concerned with prevention of organisational accidents and the maintaining of the highest safety standards in organisations with high hazard potential since its beginnings. Whereas it is known that human error has contributed to some well-known accidents and events in various safety-critical applications, as well as in railway, and that human factors have an impact on how reliable our non-destructive inspections are, very little has been done so far to address human factors, especially in the railway sector. The first steps in addressing human factors in the inspection of railway axles has been carried out by analysing the results of manual ultrasonic inspection of the railway axles during requalification in the education centre of the German Society for Non-Destructive Testing (DGZfP). In addition to the inspection, 160 participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire with the aim of identifying potential factors influencing their performance. The results showed that no correlation between the possible influencing factors (i.e. experience, level of qualification, satisfaction with the conditions during the re-qualification as well as in the daily practice and mental workload) and the inspection results. The explanation for this result was found in the fact that questionnaires can be used only to identify indirectly influencing factors. The only way to identify directly influencing factors and establish cause-effect relationships is by experimental study. The limitation of this study was the inability to influence the participants in any way during the requalification examination. Another angle used to identify potential influencing factors was the use of human-oriented Failure Modes and Effects Analysis. Carried out together with 4 experts from the field practice, two lecturers and two scientists, this analysis provided with an extensive list of possible failures, their causes, consequences and possible barriers. The largest benefits for the reliability of manual ultrasonic railway axle inspections in the practice can be found in attending to the organisational aspects of the inspection (e.g. processes, procedures, communication, education, supervision etc.). T2 - ESIS TC24 workshop "Integrity of Railway Structures" CY - Leoben, Austria DA - 24.10.2016 KW - Human factors KW - Reliability KW - NDT KW - Railway axle PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-38251 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Kanzler, Daniel A1 - Ronneteg, U. T1 - Conclusions of the 6th European American workshop on reliability of NDE N2 - The principles of Open Space Technology (OST) were again applied to discuss burning issues in the field of NDE reliability. The results of the discussions among NDE professionals concerning new reliability methods, human factors and integrated solutions will be presented. T2 - 42nd Annual Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation CY - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA DA - 26.07.20155 KW - NDT KW - Reliability KW - Probability of detection KW - Human factors KW - POD PY - 2016 SN - 978-0-7354-1353-5 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4940452 SN - 0094-243X VL - 1706 SP - 020006-1 EP - 020006-9 PB - AIP Publishing AN - OPUS4-36637 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Assessing and Treating Risks in Mechanised NDT: A Human Factors Study N2 - Reliability of NDT is affected by human factors, which have thus far received the least amount of attention in the reliability assessments. With increased use of automation, in terms of mechanised testing (automation-assisted inspection and the corresponding evaluation of data), higher reliability standards are believed to have been achieved. However, human inspectors, and thus human factors, still play an important role throughout this process and the risks involved in this application are unknown. The aim of this study was to explore for the first time the risks associated with mechanised NDT and find ways of mitigating their effects on the inspection performance. Hence, the objectives were to identify and Analyse potential risks in mechanised NDT and devise measures against them. To address those objectives, a risk assessment in form of a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was conducted. This analysis revealed potential for failure during both the acquisition and evaluation of NDT data that could be assigned to human, technology, and organisation. Since the existing preventive measures were judged to be insufficient to defend the system from identified failures, new preventive measures were suggested. KW - NDT KW - Human factors KW - Risk assessment KW - FMEA KW - Reliability KW - Human error PY - 2018 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-463325 SN - 1616-069X IS - 161 SP - 52 EP - 62 PB - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (DGZfP) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-46332 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - NDE reliability and the influence of human factors N2 - The presentation highlights the need for human factors research in the field of non-destructive testing (NDT) and presents a review of factors affecting human performance in NDT with examples of own research studies and previous studies in the field. T2 - IAEA Technical Meeting on the Optimization of Non-Destructive Examination and In-Service Inspection to Improve Nuclear Power Plant Performance CY - Espoo, Finland DA - 04.04.2017 KW - Human factors KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Reliability KW - Nuclear PY - 2017 UR - https://www.iaea.org/NuclearPower/Meetings/2017/2017-04-04-04-07-NPES.html UR - https://www.iaea.org/NuclearPower/Downloadable/Meetings/2017/2017-04-04-04-07-NPES/1_NDE_Reliability_and_the_influenceof_human_factors_Marija_Bertovic.pdf AN - OPUS4-39956 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Automation in NDT: new risks and risk sources N2 - Reliability of NDT depends not only on the intrinsic capability of the measuring systems and on the application factors (the conditions under which NDT is applied), but also—and to a great extent—on human factors and the organisational context under which each inspection is carried out. Adoption of a systematic approach to the identification and prevention of risks. Critical defects could be missed, even if the inspection process is semi-automated. The causes of that risk lie in the technology, people and in the organisation. Currently installed preventive measures are insufficient to prevent from risks New preventive measures could be installed, e.g. further automation, installing alarms, implementing human redundancy, developing software and hardware solutions, optimising procedures, etc. Human factors studies are not only essential for the operation but also during the development process. T2 - 55th annual Conference of the British Institute for Non-Destructive Testing CY - Nottingham, UK DA - 12.09.2016 KW - NDT KW - Risk management KW - Reliability KW - Human factors PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-37589 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Automation in non-destructive testing: new risks and risk sources N2 - Over the past couple of decades Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has seen a significant increase in the use of automation. In addition to increased reliability, objectivity, consistency, repeatability, productivity, and so on, automating parts of the process is expected to decrease the potential for human error. However, the literature on human-automation interaction suggests that automation is not only associated with benefits, but also with new risks and risk sources. First, this paper will present the methodology used to identify—for the first time—possible risks associated with mechanised data acquisition and corresponding data evaluation. Moreover, it will highlight possible risks, their causes, consequences, and ways of preventing them. Second, those preventive measures will be further analysed by examining new risks that can arise from their implementation, i.e. potential for failure that can arise from (a) working with automated defect-detection and sizing aids, (b) implementing human redundancy, and (c) improvement of the inspection procedures without due consideration of the procedure users. And third, some optimisations strategies will be provided. The purpose of this work is to show that mechanised testing is associated with potential for failure and that the sources of those risks go beyond single inspectors and need to be looked at in the interaction of people with other systems, i.e. the technology, the team and, most importantly, the organisation. T2 - 55th annual Conference of the British Institute for Non-Destructive Testing CY - Nottingham, UK DA - 12.09.2016 KW - NDT KW - Automation KW - Reliability PY - 2016 SP - 1 EP - 11 AN - OPUS4-37591 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Human factors in NDT: a re-emerging field N2 - Human factors have puzzled the non-destructive testing (NDT) community since the NDT’s beginnings. It is well known that various human and organisational factors affect the reliability of NDT in the field. Hence, various efforts have been made to improve the technology, the training and the qualification process, the inspection procedures, and the working conditions, among others. However, human factors still puzzle the NDT community and the efforts to fill the gap in knowledge are rather scarce. In comparison to other fields, human factors in NDT have been a rather poorly investigated field. In the past 30 years, only a handful of institutes engaged into the research in this field. However, the recent efforts from the UK and Germany have brought the topic into spotlight. This paper will provide an overview of existing knowledge in the field and discuss future directions. T2 - 19th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing CY - München, Germany DA - 13.06.2016 KW - NDT KW - Reliability KW - Human factors PY - 2016 AN - OPUS4-37604 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Pavlovic, Mato A1 - Kanzler, Daniel A1 - Rosenthal, Martina A1 - Pitkänen, J. A1 - Ronneteg, U. T1 - Progress in evaluating the reliability of NDE systems - paradigm shift N2 - The paper will give an overview of new methodology for evaluating the reliability of NDE systems accurately, reliably and efficiently in accordance with the specific requirements of industrial application. After a review of the substantive issues from the previous workshops, the go forward guidance from these interactions is considered. At the beginning of the reliability analysis, the actual safety demands have to be defined in order to fit the investigation to the level of risk when the component would fail. Next, all the essential influencing parameters need to be documented and transferred to an appropriate design of experiments (DOE) to determine the reliability in terms of a qualitative assessment for lower risk or in terms of a quantitative probability of detection (POD) or ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristics) curves for higher safety demands. A new paradigm is offered to consider the POD or reliability of the system as a function of the configuration of input variables and use it for optimisation rather than for a final judgement. An advantage for the end user is also to sample all single PODs to an integral 'Volume POD' of a part. Among the influencing parameters, the human factor is the most important one. A systematic psychological approach shall help to find out where the bottlenecks are but most importantly to provide best possible working conditions for the human inspectors. T2 - 8th International conference on NDE in relation to structural integrity for nuclear and pressurised components CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2010-09-29 KW - Reliability KW - POD KW - ROC KW - Safety PY - 2010 SN - 978-3-940283-30-6 IS - DGZfP-BB 125 (Th.3.A.4) SP - 1 EP - 10 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-23923 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Fahlbruch, B. A1 - Pitkänen, J. A1 - Ronneteg, U. T1 - Human factors approach to the reliability of NDT in nuclear waste management in Sweden and Finland N2 - Nuclear power industry has the responsibility to manage and dispose of all radioactive waste from its plants. Finnish Posiva and Swedish SKB are leading in the world in the development of disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Their method consists of encapsulating spent nuclear fuel in copper canisters and depositing them in the bedrock at a depth of about 500 meters for the next 100 000 years, leaving the radioactivity to decrease naturally through the decay of the radioisotopes in it. The copper canisters, consisting of a copper tube, a lid and a bottom (which make the outer shell) and an insert made of a cast iron, need to be inspected for their structural integrity to ensure no critical defects are present in the materials and welds that could lead to a leakage of the waste into the environment. Data acquired by 4 different non-destructive testing (NDT) methods (i.e. UT, ET, RT and VT with a remote camera) are evaluated by skilled human operators and therefore could be subject to human error. Human Factors approach lies in identifying potential errors made by the human, their causes and ways of preventing them. A customized Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was conducted to anticipate possible human failures during the data evaluation. The results led to designing several experiments (e.g. diffusion of responsibility within the 4-eye principle, over trust in automated systems) which are being experimentally tested in ongoing projects. The results are expected to lead to the optimization of the procedures followed by the NDT operators and consequently to the improvement of the overall NDT reliability. T2 - 8th International conference on NDE in relation to structural integrity for nuclear and pressurised components CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 2010-09-29 KW - Human factors KW - Reliability KW - NDT KW - Nuclear waste PY - 2010 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/jrc-nde2010/papers/32.pdf SN - 978-3-940283-30-6 IS - DGZfP-BB 125 (Th.3.A.2) SP - 1 EP - 10 CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-23925 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Takahashi, Kazunori A1 - Pavlovic, Mato A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Ewert, Uwe A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Ronneteg, U. ED - Thompson, D.O. ED - Chimenti, D.E. T1 - Application of POD to complex industrial problems: new approaches N2 - Ultrasonic phased array NDE has been applied to ensure the integrity of canisters for encapsulation of spent nuclear fuel. The performance of the NDE system is evaluated by the POD analysis. The POD analysis using a common method, â versus a, has been modified for the phased array ultrasonic inspections by two approaches: to take more influencing parameters into a, and to use a more sophisticated quantity as â. The POD with new a allows more detailed interpretation of POD for each parameter, and the new â gives more realistic POD. The methods are discussed and demonstrated with experimental data. In addition, an investigation of human factors is being planned and the plan is discussed. KW - Nondestructive testing KW - Probability KW - Ultrasonics KW - Ultrasonic KW - Phased array KW - Probability of Detection (POD) KW - Reliability KW - Nuclear waste PY - 2009 SN - 978-0-7354-0629-2 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3114180 N1 - Serientitel: AIP conference proceedings – Series title: AIP conference proceedings VL - 28 SP - 1824 EP - 1831 AN - OPUS4-26086 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Tutorial: NDE Reliability and the Influence of Human Factors N2 - Human factors significantly influence the reliability of non-destructive testing (NDT) systems, impacting safety, efficiency, and cost. This tutorial explores the interplay between human capabilities, organizational context, and technological systems in NDT inspections. It starts with a short overview of reliability models, including the Probability of Detection (POD) framework, alongside with advanced approaches for reliability assessment. The distinction between human factors and human error is emphasized, advocating a systemic approach to human error that addresses underlying organizational and environmental conditions. The implications of increasing automation and AI integration are discussed, highlighting the challenges of trust, usability, and skill preservation in human-AI collaboration. Practical strategies, including user-centered design, targeted training, and risk management frameworks, are proposed to enhance inspection performance and maintain NDT reliability in evolving technological landscapes. This tutorial underscores the critical role of human factors in the transition to NDT 4.0 and the development of effective human-machine systems. T2 - USES2 Training week#2 CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 24.06.2024 KW - Human Factors KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - Reliability KW - Human-Machine Interaction KW - Artificial Intelligence PY - 2024 AN - OPUS4-61874 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Human Factors in Non Destructive Testing: Traditional and Emerging Trends N2 - Human factors (HF) play a critical role in ensuring the reliability and safety of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). This presentation begins by defining human factors and explaining their relevance to performance and error prevention in NDT. It distinguishes between human factors and human error, introduces selected HF methods, and discusses key factors influencing human performance in NDT—supported by study examples. Building on this foundation, the presentation explores emerging trends associated with the integration of assistive and AI-driven technologies in NDT. Major challenges such as user acceptance, trust, usability, human-AI task allocation, responsibility, and skill degradation are examined. Finally, strategies for fostering acceptance and designing user-centered systems are proposed to support effective and reliable implementation. T2 - NDT Seminar 2025 CY - Munich, Germany DA - 24.04.2025 KW - Human Factors KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - Mensch-Maschine-Interaktion KW - Artificial Intelligence KW - Acceptance KW - Reliability PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63412 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Human-related risks in the nondestructivetesting (NDT) of hollow railway axles: implications for the education and training of the NDT personnel N2 - Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a major contributor to the safe railway operation. Even though NDT reliability in railway maintenance is affected by human factors, there are only just a few studies published in this field so far. Education and training of the NDT personnel are some of the most important drivers of safe and reliable NDT. Continuously improving current practices and tools used for educational purposes can be achieved not only through technical content, but also through the attention to human factors. The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of possible human-related risks in the manual ultrasonic inspection of the hollow railway axles and to suggest measures to improve the education and training of the NDT personnel. This was achieved by means of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) carried out with eight NDT experts and by a survey of 27 experienced inspectors. The results show that failures can happen throughout the entire NDT process. Prevention of those failures could be improved through the optimization of the organization, technology, documentation and regulations, working conditions and the general process, and through the optimization of the formal education and training. Specialized training of the executives, extended training of the supervisors and the inspectors and improvement of the inspection documentation have been suggested. The study also showed potential for the improvements of the inspection in the field. T2 - 29th European Safety and Reliability Conference CY - Hannover, Germany DA - 22.09.2019 KW - Human Factors KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - NDT KW - Education KW - Training KW - Failure Modes and Effects Analysis KW - Railway KW - Axle Inspection KW - Ultrasonic Testing KW - Reliability PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-49729 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Human-Related Risks in the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) of Hollow Railway Axles: Implications for the Education and Training of the NDT Personnel N2 - Non-destructive testing (NDT) is a major contributor to the safe railway operation. Even though NDT reliability in railway maintenance is affected by human factors, there are only just a few studies published in this field so far. Education and training of the NDT personnel are some of the most important drivers of safe and reliable NDT. Continuously improving current practices and tools used for educational purposes can be achieved not only through technical con¬tent, but also through the attention to human factors. The aim of this study was to deepen the understanding of possible human-related risks in the manual ultrasonic inspection of the hollow railway axles and to suggest measures to improve the education and training of the NDT person¬nel. This was achieved by means of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) carried out with eight NDT experts and by a survey of 27 experienced inspectors. The results show that failures can happen throughout the entire NDT process. Prevention of those failures could be improved through the optimization of the organization, technology, documentation and regulations, working conditions and the general process, and through the optimization of the formal education and training. Specialized training of the executives, extended training of the supervisors and the inspectors and improvement of the inspection documentation have been suggested. The study also showed potential for the improvements of the inspection in the field. T2 - 29th European Safety and Reliability Conference CY - Hannover, Germany DA - 22.09.2019 KW - Human Factors KW - Non-Destructive Testing KW - NDT KW - Education KW - Training KW - Failure Modes and Effects Analysis KW - Railway KW - Axle Inspection KW - Ultrasonic Testing KW - Reliability PY - 2019 SN - 978-981-11-2724-3 DO - https://doi.org/10.3850/978-981-11-2724-3_1058-cd SP - 294 EP - 300 PB - Research Publishing CY - Singapore AN - OPUS4-49733 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Kanzler, D. A1 - Pavlovic, Mato A1 - Holstein, R. T1 - Aktueller Stand der Diskussion zur Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP und den menschlichen Faktoren N2 - Dass die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP eine sehr wichtige Rolle bei der Bewertung sicherheitsrelevanter Systeme spielt, ist bekannt. Laut dem modularen Zuverlässigkeitsmodell für zerstörungsfreie Prüfprozesse hängt die Zuverlässigkeit von der innewohnenden (physikalisch-technischen) Fähigkeit der Prüfsystems, den Anwendungsparametern, den menschlichen Faktoren und dem organisatorischen Kontext ab. Seit Einführung des Modells während des ersten Workshops zur Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP (European-American Workshop on Reliability of NDE) wurde das Modell in weiteren fünf Workshops stetig weiterentwickelt, diskutiert und an den Stand der Wissenschaft angepasst. Das Ziel dieser Publikation ist es, den aktuellen Stand der Diskussion und die neusten Fragestellungen der internationalen Zuverlässigkeitsgemeinschaft vorzustellen. Im Einzelnen werden die Entwicklung fortgeschrittener Modelle zur Bewertung der Probability of Detection (POD), Bewertungsansätze im Bereich Structural Health Monitoring und Fragestellungen zu den menschlichen Faktoren dargestellt. Besonderer Wert wurde sowohl auf die Entwicklung, als auch auf die Anwendung der Ansätze in der industriellen Praxis gelegt. T2 - DGZfP-Jahrestagung 2017 CY - Koblenz, Germany DA - 22.05.2017 KW - Zuverlässigkeit KW - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung KW - Probability of detection KW - Human factors KW - Reliability PY - 2017 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-404861 SN - 978-3-940283-85-6 VL - DGZfP-Berichtsband BB 162 SP - 1 EP - 7 AN - OPUS4-40486 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - THES A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - Human Factors in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT): Risks and Challenges of Mechanised NDT T1 - Human Factors bei der zerstörungsfreien Prüfung (ZfP): Risiken und Herausforderungen mechanisierter ZfP N2 - Non-destructive testing (NDT) is regarded as one of the key elements in ensuring quality of engineering systems and their safe use. A failure of NDT to detect critical defects in safetyrelevant components, such as those in the nuclear industry, may lead to catastrophic consequences for the environment and the people. Therefore, ensuring that NDT methods are capable of detecting all critical defects, i.e. that they are reliable, is of utmost importance. Reliability of NDT is affected by human factors, which have thus far received the least amount of attention in the reliability assessments. With increased use of automation, in terms of mechanised testing (automation-assisted inspection and the corresponding evaluation of data), higher reliability standards are believed to have been achieved. However, human inspectors, and thus human factors, still play an important role throughout this process, and the risks involved in this application are unknown. The overall aim of the work presented in this dissertation was to explore for the first time the risks associated with mechanised NDT and find ways of mitigating their effects on the inspection performance. Hence, the objectives were to (1) identify and analyse potential risks in mechanised NDT, (2) devise measures against them, (3) critically address the preventive measures with respect to new potential risks, and (4) suggest ways for the implementation of the preventive measures. To address the first two objectives a risk assessment in form of a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) was conducted (Study 1). This analysis revealed potential for failure during both the acquisition and evaluation of NDT data that could be assigned to human, technology, and organisation. Since the existing preventive measures are insufficient to defend the system from identified failures, new preventive measures were suggested. The conclusion of the study was that those preventive measures need to be carefully considered with respect to new potential risks, before they can be implemented, thus serving as a starting point for further empirical studies. To address the final two objectives, two preventive measures, i.e. human redundancy and the use of automated aids in the evaluation of NDT data, were critically assessed with regard to potential downfalls arising from the social interaction between redundant individuals and the belief in the high reliability of automated aids. The second study was concerned with the potential withdrawal of effort in sequential redundant teams when working collectively as opposed to working alone, when independence between the two redundant individuals is not present. The results revealed that the first redundant inspector, led to believe someone else will conduct the same task afterwards, invested the same amount of effort as when working alone. The redundant checker was not affected by the information about the superior experience of his predecessor and—instead of expected withdrawal of effort—exhibited better performance in the task. Both results were in contradiction to the hypotheses, the explanations for which can be found in the social loafing and social compensation effects and in the methodological limitations. The third study examined inappropriate use of the aid measured in terms of (a) agreement with the errors of the aid in connection to the frequency of verifying its results and in terms of (b) the overall performance in the task. The results showed that the information about the high reliability of the aid did not affect the perception of that aid’s performance and, hence, no differences in the actual use of the aid were to be expected. However, the participants did not use the aid appropriately: They misused it, i.e. agreed with the errors committed by the aid and disused it, i.e. disagreed with the correct information provided by the aid, thereby reducing the overall reliability of the aid in terms of sizing ability. Whereas aid’s misuse could be assigned to low propensity to take risks and reduced verification behaviour because of a bias towards automation, the disuse was assigned to the possible misunderstanding of the task. The results of these studies raised the awareness that methods used to increase reliability and safety, such as automation and human redundancy, can backfire if their implementation is not carefully considered with respect to new potential risks arising from the interaction between individuals and complex systems. In an attempt to minimise this risk, suggestions for their implementation in the NDT practice were provided. N2 - Die zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (ZfP) wird als eines der wichtigsten Qualitätssicherungsmaßnahmen für technische Systeme und deren sichere Anwendung betrachtet. Wenn die ZfP kritische Defekte in sicherheitsrelevanten Anlagen, wie z.B. in der Kerntechnik, nicht entdeckt, kann dies zu katastrophalen Folgen für die Umwelt und den Menschen führen. Deshalb muss gewährleistet sein, dass die Verfahren der ZfP zuverlässig sind, d.h. dass sie alle kritischen Defekte entdecken können. Die Zuverlässigkeit der ZfP wird von menschlichen Faktoren beeinflusst, die jedoch bisher in diesem Feld selten betrachtet wurden. Durch den verstärkten Einsatz von Automatisierung beispielsweise bei der mechanisierten Prüfung (automatisierungsunterstütze Prüfung und die zugehörige Datenbewertung) wurde die Erreichung eines höheren Zuverlässigkeitsniveaus erwartet. Menschliche Faktoren sind trotz der Automatisierung immer noch bedeutsam für den gesamten Prüfprozess. Die Risiken der stärkeren Automatisierung der Prüfungen sind nicht vollständig bekannt. Das generelle Anliegen dieser Arbeit ist die erstmalige Feststellung der Risiken der mechanisierten ZfP und das Aufzeigen von Möglichkeiten, diese zu verringern. Die konkreten Ziele dieser Arbeit sind dementsprechend (1) die potenziellen Risiken bei der mechanisierten Prüfung aufzuzeigen und zu analysieren, (2) präventive Maßnahmen für diese Risiken abzuleiten, (3) diese präventiven Maßnahmen kritisch hinsichtlich neuer Risiken zu beleuchten sowie (4) Umsetzungsvorschläge aufzuzeigen. Für die ersten zwei Ziele wurde eine Risikoabschätzung mit der Fehlzustandsart- und auswirkungsanalyse (FMEA) durchgeführt (Studie 1). Diese Analyse ergab Fehlermöglichkeiten während der Datenaufnahme und –bewertung bei der mechanisierten ZfP, die dem Menschen, der Technik und der Organisation zugeordnet werden können. Weil die vorhandenen präventiven Maßnahmen unzureichend für die Vermeidung der identifizierten Fehler waren, wurden neue präventive Maßnahmen vorgeschlagen. Die Schlussfolgerung der Studie zeigt, dass vor der Umsetzung präventiver Maßnahmen eine sorgfältige Betrachtung hinsichtlich neuer potenzieller Risiken erfolgen muss. Dies war der Ausgangspunkt für die weiteren empirischen Untersuchungen. Für die letzten beiden Ziele wurden zwei präventive Maßnahmen untersucht: die menschliche Redundanz und die Anwendung automatisierter Assistenzsysteme bei der ZfP-Datenbewertung. Im Fokus lagen potenzielle Schwachstellen, die aus sozialer Interaktion der redundanten Individuen und aus dem Vertrauen in die hohe Zuverlässigkeit der automatisierten Assistenzsysteme entstehen können. In der zweiten Studie wurde die potenzielle Reduzierung der Anstrengung in sequentiellen redundanten Teams untersucht, indem die gemeinsame Aufgabenbearbeitung in Teams der individuellen Aufgabenbearbeitung gegenüber gestellt wurde. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass der erste redundante Prüfer, dem mitgeteilt wurde, dass ein anderer Prüfer die Prüfaufgabe nach ihm durchführen wird, die gleiche Anstrengung investierte wie der individuelle Bearbeiter. Der zweite redundante Prüfer (redundant checker) wurde durch die Information, dass sein Vorprüfer die höherwertige Erfahrung besitzt, nicht hypothesenkonform beeinflusst - anstelle der erwarteten Rücknahme der Anstrengung - zeigte er eine bessere Leistung bei der Durchführung der Aufgabe. Beide Ergebnisse stehen in Widerspruch zu den Hypothesen und können durch social loafing und social compensation Effekte sowie durch methodische Aspekte erklärt werden. In der dritten Studie wurde die unangemessene Nutzung eines automatisierten Assistenzsystems untersucht operationalisiert als (a) die Übereinstimmung mit Fehlern des Systems verbunden mit der Überprüfungshäufigkeit seiner Ergebnisse und (b) die Leistung bei der Aufgabe. Die Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die Information über die hohe Zuverlässigkeit des Systems die Wahrnehmung der Systemleistung nicht beeinflusste und folglich keine Unterschiede in der tatsächlichen Nutzung des Systems zu finden waren. Die Probanden nutzten jedoch das System nicht angemessen: sie stimmten den Fehlern des Systems zu (automation misuse) und sie lehnten korrekte Informationen des Systems ab (automation disuse). So reduzierten sie die Gesamtzuverlässigkeit des Systems, zumeist bei der Fehlergrößenbestimmung. Während misuse mit einer niedrigen Risikobereitschaft und eingeschränkten Überprüfungsverhalten auf Grund des automation bias erklärt werden kann, wird disuse dem möglichen Missverstehen der Aufgabe zugeordnet. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studien haben das Bewusstsein dafür erhöht, dass Methoden zur Erhöhung der Zuverlässigkeit und Sicherheit sowie Automatisierung und menschliche Redundanz versagen können, wenn die potenziellen Risiken ihrer Umsetzung aufgrund der Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Technik nicht bedacht werden. Um diese Risiken bei der Anwendung präventiver Maßnahmen zu minimieren, wurden Vorschläge für die ZfP-Praxis erarbeitet. T3 - BAM Dissertationsreihe - 145 KW - Failure modes and effects analysis KW - Zuverlässigkeit KW - Menschliche Faktoren KW - Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung KW - Fehlzustandsart- und auswirkungsanalyse KW - Personelle Redundanz KW - Human factors KW - Non-destructive testing KW - Human redundancy KW - Automation bias KW - Reliability PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus4-71292 SN - 978-3-9817502-7-0 DO - https://doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-4685 SN - 1613-4249 VL - 145 SP - 1 EP - 161 PB - Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-36090 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Ronneteg, U. A1 - Grybäck, T. A1 - Bertovic, Marija A1 - Müller, Christina A1 - Pavlovic, Mato T1 - Safe for 1 million years – NDT matters! N2 - The General Guidance in the Swedish regulations state that the safety assessment for a final repository for spent nuclear fuel should be 1 million years after closure. SKB developed the KBS-3 method, according to which the spent nuclear fuel is protected by three barriers. It is encapsulated in canisters with a diameter of 1 metre and a length of 5 metres. The canister consists of a cast iron insert surrounded by a 5 centimetre thick shell of copper. The canisters are disposed in the bedrock at a depth of about 500 meters surrounded by bentonite clay. In order to assess the safety over this extremely long period, an extensive quality control programme is applied to the canisters before deposit. In this programme, the use of non-destructive testing (NDT) is vital. The safety assessment of the canister in turn places high demands on the coverage, detectability, and reliability of the applied NDT inspections of the canister parts, i.e. cast iron insert, copper base, tube and lid, and the copper friction stir welds (FSW). This paper presents the extensive full-scale inspection development programme that runs at the Canister Laboratory in Oskarshamn (Sweden). In order to fulfil the high demands, phased array ultrasonic inspection techniques are developed using practical trials aided by ultrasonic modelling. The techniques apply, for example, different frequencies, inspection angles, focus depths, and both longitudinal and shear waves. Increased inspection reliability of the FSW is achieved by applying digital X-ray technique using a 9 MeV linear accelerator and a line detector. To complete the coverage, complementary surface inspections methods, i.e. eddy current array, magnetic flux sensor techniques and magnetic particle inspection, are applied. The canister safety assessment was the driving force to include reliability studies during the NDT development. Initially, the technical reliability was considered, resulting in development of advanced POD models (probability of detection). In combination with human factors studies, these models were implemented as tools in the development of the NDT techniques. Human factors studies were also applied to improve the inspection procedures to be more user-friendly enabling reliable inspections. T2 - 19th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing CY - München, Germany DA - 13.06.2016 KW - NDT KW - Reliability KW - Spent nuclear fuel PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-375785 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/wcndt2016/papers/we4e4.pdf SP - id 19464, 1 EP - 9 AN - OPUS4-37578 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - McGrath, B. A1 - Holstein, R. A1 - Bertovic, Marija T1 - How NDT companies can benefit from human factors knowledge N2 - Ultrasonic phased array is, currently, the technology which is being applied as the solution to a lot of inspection problems. The perceived benefits are seen to be worth the outlay on equipment and specialised personnel. Yet, there is a source of knowledge, freely available, which can also deliver immediate benefits, through more reliable inspection results, and consequently increased client confidence, but which is largely ignored by the greater part of the NDT community. This talk will review the latest Human Factors knowledge and provide practical illustrations of how companies can use it to improve their competitive edge. T2 - 19th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing CY - München, Germany DA - 13.06.2016 KW - NDT KW - Reliability KW - Human factors PY - 2016 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-375742 UR - http://www.ndt.net/article/wcndt2016/papers/tu4d3.pdf SP - id 19532, 1 EP - 8 AN - OPUS4-37574 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -