Christobel Hui, Consultant – Human Factors

Chrostobel Hui
Consultant – Human Factors, 
AUSTRALIA

What is your job?

I am a Human Factors Consultant. Human Factors and Ergonomics is a scientific discipline that applies knowledge about human capabilities, limitations and characteristics to the design and evaluation of tools, machines and systems.

The integration of Human Factors in projects aims to:

• Identify and mitigate potential human errors and risks
• Inform and alter designs in early stages in order to optimise human-system interactions and ultimately optimise the overall system performance. I help make rail systems more safe, efficient and usable.

Why do you do what you do?

I joined SYSTRA ANZ in January 2020 as a graduate with a psychology background.

Having worked for over three years, my understanding of human factors and engineering has grown. I have seen the positive impacts my job can make to ensure human safety and improve whole system efficiency, as well as the negative impacts when human factors are not considered in a project.

As I perform my duties daily, I am increasingly convinced of the value of Human Factors that puts people’s safety, comfort, performance, health and wellbeing first.

What are the 3 important qualities or skills in your job?

First and foremost, being curious is crucial, especially about people and how they interact with different elements of the system. This will help with understanding the environment in where users perform tasks.

Secondly, being able to prompt and ask the right questions to different stakeholders will support the establishment of users’ needs and goals in order to derive user requirements.

Finally, taking a systematic approach in identifying and addressing human factors issues is critical for minimising risks effectively and reliably.

Why SYSTRA?

I am blessed to be in a team full of passionate and technically incredible Human Factors professionals. The diverse experiences and personalities of my team members make work fun and mean I get to learn something different from each of them! Being part of a multi-disciplinary and global group also means opportunities to work with people with different expertise and from all around the globe.