Enda Fallon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Enda Fallon
AI & society, Jul 1, 2003
It is clear from the literature that there are significant relationships between the disciplines ... more It is clear from the literature that there are significant relationships between the disciplines of quality and ergonomics/human factors engineering (Drury, 1997; Eklund, 1995). In many respects the application of one should provide benefits in the domain of the other. For example, improvements in the ergonomics aspects of hand tools can contribute to the quality of manufactured items through improved performance with respect to specifications and increased reliability in use. Similarly, quality efforts can be focussed on the process or the worker as an internal customer, often leading to improvements in the working environment. The current special issue has extended the scope of the above relationship between quality and human factors issues, beyond the design to product process and into the areas of community involvement (business or work related communities), human resource management and ‘spirituality’. The concept of community used by Carayon and Haims (in this issue) is an extension of the popular understanding of this term. They consider the community to be any entity or group of entities outside the organisation, presumably with a common interest or purpose. In order to illustrate the relationship between the quality of output of an organisation or group of organisations (one community) and the ‘community’, they point out that quality in the public school system community can be enhanced by the contributions of universities. For them, quality in the community means, ‘the health, safety and performance of the community’. In this author’s view this is all very reasonable and plausible. After all, the majority of our work efforts make a positive contribution to some community somewhere, unless our particular organisation is intent on defying the accepted minimum standards of health and safety and environmental legislation, or has some criminal intent. Nevertheless, within industry, the focus has tended to be on suitability of use with respect to functional performance, with AI & Soc (2003) 17: 192–195 DOI 10.1007/s00146-003-0258-x
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2015
S162 3rd ESTRO Forum 2015 participate to databases will certainly decrease the average quality of... more S162 3rd ESTRO Forum 2015 participate to databases will certainly decrease the average quality of the data and consequently aggravate the risks. Therefore, participation to databases should not be made mandatory.
One of the biggest engineering concerns in the Middle East is the major delays in infrastructural... more One of the biggest engineering concerns in the Middle East is the major delays in infrastructural projects which impact on both their quality and cost. A significant number of projects do not finish on time, are subject to cost overruns and are not completed to the specified quality. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) claims losses of the order of $ 40 Billion per annum as a result of these issues. Information on the factors contributing to project delays was studied. A literature review which determined the main project delay factors was first carried out. An online survey incorporating 66 of these was then developed with the purpose of identifying the most critical factors contributing to project delays. The survey was administered to over 200 specialists in the area of project engineering. This cohort included; Consultants, Business Owners, Project Directors, Project Engineers, Safety and Quality Managers and Contracting Managers. The resulting delay factors were ranked in order of priority based on a weighted index incorporating dimensions of Frequency and Severity. The non-linear relationships between "customer attributes" and "critical delay factors" in infrastructural projects was modeled using a "House of Quality Tool "with an innovative double roof. The method enabled the identification of the top 20 delay factors with respect to the following customer attributes; "Time, Cost, Quality, Safety and Environment". The highest ranked factors which impacted on all the customer attributes were; the shortage of technical professionals, unrealistic specified times and inadequate design and specification. The lowest ranked factors included; contractor cash flow problems and slow decision making by the client. The Double-Roof House of Quality Tools proved to be useful in determining and representing the relationships between "customer attributes" and "critical delay factors". The next phase of the work is to model the non-linear nature of the relationship using Fuzzy Logic. The ultimate goal is to provide expert guidance on strategy with respect to the focus on delaying factors in major infrastructural projects.
CRC Press eBooks, Jun 24, 2010
International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Jun 12, 2018
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation within manufacturing companies in the West of Ireland. It examines the key success and failure factors, benefits and quality tools influencing LSS projects deployment. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed research method (quantitative and qualitative approach). Research data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire to the target population followed by interview case studies with four manufacturing companies to gather additional insight. The targeted respondents were manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, process improvement managers, operations managers, R&D engineers, LSS experts and validation engineers. Findings LSS initiatives are still relatively unknown to many SMEs organisations, whereas large companies have adopted LSS for some time. Top management commitment, understanding the LSS methodology, tools and techniques, integrating LSS to business strategy, organisational cultural change and training and education were the topmost key success factors. Organisational strategy, lack of top management support, expensive cost for LSS projects, unclear prioritisation of LSS projects and cost effectiveness were the most important failure factors influencing LSS implementation. Originality/value This research is the original work provided by the author and is expected to address the shortcomings of both SMEs and large organisations in the West of Ireland. The recommendations and frameworks reported in this paper can be used by manufacturing and service companies in Ireland for efficiency, competitiveness and continuous improvement.
Springer eBooks, 2013
Introduction: MammoSite High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy is becoming an increasingly widespread... more Introduction: MammoSite High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy is becoming an increasingly widespread procedure delivering radiotherapy to post surgery breast cancer patients. This paper examined the application of risk assessment and its relation to Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality control (QC) procedures. Materials and Methods: IDEF⊘ diagrams were used to look at the steps in the process. These diagrams were used to identify potential treatment delivery errors and to develop a protocol for QA based on this assessment. The risk assessment identified the risks from this procedure, taking into account the levels of probability of an incident occurring, and the levels of severity of the incident. This study examined how QA and QC protocols can be implemented using a prospective study of risk though IDEF⊘ diagrams and applying identified hazards to a risk matrix. The probability of occurrence and the levels of severity were applied to hazards and errors identified, and a resulting risk number was calculated from the risk matrix. A number of different QA and QC procedures were then applied to the system to analyze how they affect the calculated risk number. This paper provides an example of good practice for applying systems engineering tools that can be used to strengthen the QA and QC program. These different QA and QC procedures were then applied to the potential errors and hazards to analyze how they affect the risk number. Results and discussion: The use of IDEF⊘ diagrams showed the steps at a detailed level making them easier to identify hazards. The risk matrix can then be used to improve and analyze on the QA and QC protocol. This methodology for risk assessment is useful for a prospective study of risk.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
Digi-NewB is a system currently being developed to monitor and predict the risk of sepsis in infa... more Digi-NewB is a system currently being developed to monitor and predict the risk of sepsis in infants within a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting. More than 300,000 preterm infants are hospitalized each year in a European care unit. Sepsis diagnosis is complex and therefore usually late, resulting in an increased risk. In this paper, we present on our experience with applying a participatory design based prototyping method to create user interface (UI) concepts for the Digi-Newb system and then testing the prototypes with end-users. Prototype making within the participatory design framework was found to be an effective method to rapidly develop potential design solutions, utilizing the experience of the end-user as a design partner.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals... more According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals resulting from medical error, making it the 3rd leading cause of death. One of the most commonly used devices in hospitals is the Patient Monitor (PM), a device which constantly monitors the vital signs of the patient. In this study, nurses and physicians who regularly interact with patient monitors were surveyed on their perceptions of the usability of the PMs they use on a regular basis. Results indicate that clinicians appeared to be mostly satisfied with the general usability of the monitors, particularly in terms of the information being presented and how it is presented. However, participants pointed out problems with the menu navigation during moments of high stress and the high frequency of false alarms. Also, participants expressed the desire to see additional information displayed on screen.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals... more According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals resulting from medical error, making it the 3rd leading cause of death. One of the most commonly used devices in hospitals is the Patient Monitor (PM), a device which constantly monitors the vital signs of the patient. This paper reports on a review of the scientific literature on the usability of PMs in critical care. A detailed analysis of the data reveals that: (i) PMs are undergoing a slow, but continuous process of evolution with new advances focusing on enhancing the interaction between the caregivers and the PM, (ii) the usability of PMs is beginning to receive particular attention as usability is now considered to be strongly associated with patient safety. The data from this study will be used to carry out further investigations into the usability of PMs and to inform the design of future PMs.
The diagnosis of late onset sepsis in neonates is complex and therefore usually late, resulting i... more The diagnosis of late onset sepsis in neonates is complex and therefore usually late, resulting in increased risks. The Digi-NewB project proposes a novel solution to this problem, by designing a non-invasive Decision Support System (DSS) which will use vital signs, images and sounds to measure the risk of sepsis in the preterm infant and therefore support clinicians in diagnosis. The introduction of any new system to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment presents a challenge for designers who must account for a technology laden environment and a demanding work-load for clinicians. To define the user needs and therefore build the first use cases for such a system, a multi-method approach was adopted and is described in this paper. This approach consisted of a period of ethnography, eleven semi-structured interviews and the application of a prototyping exercise based on the principles of participatory design.
Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics Series, 2010
Safety
Paediatric homecare is an advancing field of healthcare, bringing care direct to patients in thei... more Paediatric homecare is an advancing field of healthcare, bringing care direct to patients in their own homes. Risk management is an integral component of homecare services, including incident and risk assessment management. The objective of the study was to investigate risk management in homecare focusing on two aspects: incident reporting and risk assessments. A Grounded Theory approach was used to gather key functions of these aspects; these were then mapped using the Functional Resonance Analysis method (FRAM). Nineteen nurses working in paediatric homecare services were interviewed for the study. The interviews were semi-structured and focused on risk, quality, complaints, audit, care, and management. The interview data were transcribed and coded using Nvivo; the data were then converted into functions for utilization in the FRAM tool. The FRAM detailed the process of incident reporting and risk assessment management of the actual work carried out as viewed by the participants o...
Proceedings of the international conference on Ergonomics & Human Factors 2012, Blackpool, UK, 16-19 April 2012, 2012
AHFE International
Anthropometrics is the measurement of dimensions of the human body defined between fixed anatomic... more Anthropometrics is the measurement of dimensions of the human body defined between fixed anatomical landmarks (). The human body however does not generally lend itself to simple measurement as the limits or position of anatomical landmarks can often be open to interpretation. Given that effective anthropometric practices are dependent on the validity of the anthropometric data, it is critical that anthropometrists have confidence in the data they use. This paper discusses existing practices in determining anthropometric measurement error and introduces the Six Sigma technique, Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility, to the discipline of anthropometry.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2012
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2015
AI & society, Jul 1, 2003
It is clear from the literature that there are significant relationships between the disciplines ... more It is clear from the literature that there are significant relationships between the disciplines of quality and ergonomics/human factors engineering (Drury, 1997; Eklund, 1995). In many respects the application of one should provide benefits in the domain of the other. For example, improvements in the ergonomics aspects of hand tools can contribute to the quality of manufactured items through improved performance with respect to specifications and increased reliability in use. Similarly, quality efforts can be focussed on the process or the worker as an internal customer, often leading to improvements in the working environment. The current special issue has extended the scope of the above relationship between quality and human factors issues, beyond the design to product process and into the areas of community involvement (business or work related communities), human resource management and ‘spirituality’. The concept of community used by Carayon and Haims (in this issue) is an extension of the popular understanding of this term. They consider the community to be any entity or group of entities outside the organisation, presumably with a common interest or purpose. In order to illustrate the relationship between the quality of output of an organisation or group of organisations (one community) and the ‘community’, they point out that quality in the public school system community can be enhanced by the contributions of universities. For them, quality in the community means, ‘the health, safety and performance of the community’. In this author’s view this is all very reasonable and plausible. After all, the majority of our work efforts make a positive contribution to some community somewhere, unless our particular organisation is intent on defying the accepted minimum standards of health and safety and environmental legislation, or has some criminal intent. Nevertheless, within industry, the focus has tended to be on suitability of use with respect to functional performance, with AI & Soc (2003) 17: 192–195 DOI 10.1007/s00146-003-0258-x
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2015
S162 3rd ESTRO Forum 2015 participate to databases will certainly decrease the average quality of... more S162 3rd ESTRO Forum 2015 participate to databases will certainly decrease the average quality of the data and consequently aggravate the risks. Therefore, participation to databases should not be made mandatory.
One of the biggest engineering concerns in the Middle East is the major delays in infrastructural... more One of the biggest engineering concerns in the Middle East is the major delays in infrastructural projects which impact on both their quality and cost. A significant number of projects do not finish on time, are subject to cost overruns and are not completed to the specified quality. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) claims losses of the order of $ 40 Billion per annum as a result of these issues. Information on the factors contributing to project delays was studied. A literature review which determined the main project delay factors was first carried out. An online survey incorporating 66 of these was then developed with the purpose of identifying the most critical factors contributing to project delays. The survey was administered to over 200 specialists in the area of project engineering. This cohort included; Consultants, Business Owners, Project Directors, Project Engineers, Safety and Quality Managers and Contracting Managers. The resulting delay factors were ranked in order of priority based on a weighted index incorporating dimensions of Frequency and Severity. The non-linear relationships between "customer attributes" and "critical delay factors" in infrastructural projects was modeled using a "House of Quality Tool "with an innovative double roof. The method enabled the identification of the top 20 delay factors with respect to the following customer attributes; "Time, Cost, Quality, Safety and Environment". The highest ranked factors which impacted on all the customer attributes were; the shortage of technical professionals, unrealistic specified times and inadequate design and specification. The lowest ranked factors included; contractor cash flow problems and slow decision making by the client. The Double-Roof House of Quality Tools proved to be useful in determining and representing the relationships between "customer attributes" and "critical delay factors". The next phase of the work is to model the non-linear nature of the relationship using Fuzzy Logic. The ultimate goal is to provide expert guidance on strategy with respect to the focus on delaying factors in major infrastructural projects.
CRC Press eBooks, Jun 24, 2010
International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Jun 12, 2018
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation within manufacturing companies in the West of Ireland. It examines the key success and failure factors, benefits and quality tools influencing LSS projects deployment. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a mixed research method (quantitative and qualitative approach). Research data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire to the target population followed by interview case studies with four manufacturing companies to gather additional insight. The targeted respondents were manufacturing engineers, quality engineers, process improvement managers, operations managers, R&D engineers, LSS experts and validation engineers. Findings LSS initiatives are still relatively unknown to many SMEs organisations, whereas large companies have adopted LSS for some time. Top management commitment, understanding the LSS methodology, tools and techniques, integrating LSS to business strategy, organisational cultural change and training and education were the topmost key success factors. Organisational strategy, lack of top management support, expensive cost for LSS projects, unclear prioritisation of LSS projects and cost effectiveness were the most important failure factors influencing LSS implementation. Originality/value This research is the original work provided by the author and is expected to address the shortcomings of both SMEs and large organisations in the West of Ireland. The recommendations and frameworks reported in this paper can be used by manufacturing and service companies in Ireland for efficiency, competitiveness and continuous improvement.
Springer eBooks, 2013
Introduction: MammoSite High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy is becoming an increasingly widespread... more Introduction: MammoSite High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy is becoming an increasingly widespread procedure delivering radiotherapy to post surgery breast cancer patients. This paper examined the application of risk assessment and its relation to Quality Assurance (QA) and Quality control (QC) procedures. Materials and Methods: IDEF⊘ diagrams were used to look at the steps in the process. These diagrams were used to identify potential treatment delivery errors and to develop a protocol for QA based on this assessment. The risk assessment identified the risks from this procedure, taking into account the levels of probability of an incident occurring, and the levels of severity of the incident. This study examined how QA and QC protocols can be implemented using a prospective study of risk though IDEF⊘ diagrams and applying identified hazards to a risk matrix. The probability of occurrence and the levels of severity were applied to hazards and errors identified, and a resulting risk number was calculated from the risk matrix. A number of different QA and QC procedures were then applied to the system to analyze how they affect the calculated risk number. This paper provides an example of good practice for applying systems engineering tools that can be used to strengthen the QA and QC program. These different QA and QC procedures were then applied to the potential errors and hazards to analyze how they affect the risk number. Results and discussion: The use of IDEF⊘ diagrams showed the steps at a detailed level making them easier to identify hazards. The risk matrix can then be used to improve and analyze on the QA and QC protocol. This methodology for risk assessment is useful for a prospective study of risk.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
Digi-NewB is a system currently being developed to monitor and predict the risk of sepsis in infa... more Digi-NewB is a system currently being developed to monitor and predict the risk of sepsis in infants within a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting. More than 300,000 preterm infants are hospitalized each year in a European care unit. Sepsis diagnosis is complex and therefore usually late, resulting in an increased risk. In this paper, we present on our experience with applying a participatory design based prototyping method to create user interface (UI) concepts for the Digi-Newb system and then testing the prototypes with end-users. Prototype making within the participatory design framework was found to be an effective method to rapidly develop potential design solutions, utilizing the experience of the end-user as a design partner.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals... more According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals resulting from medical error, making it the 3rd leading cause of death. One of the most commonly used devices in hospitals is the Patient Monitor (PM), a device which constantly monitors the vital signs of the patient. In this study, nurses and physicians who regularly interact with patient monitors were surveyed on their perceptions of the usability of the PMs they use on a regular basis. Results indicate that clinicians appeared to be mostly satisfied with the general usability of the monitors, particularly in terms of the information being presented and how it is presented. However, participants pointed out problems with the menu navigation during moments of high stress and the high frequency of false alarms. Also, participants expressed the desire to see additional information displayed on screen.
Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018
According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals... more According to the recent literature, approximately 250,000 deaths occur annually in U.S. hospitals resulting from medical error, making it the 3rd leading cause of death. One of the most commonly used devices in hospitals is the Patient Monitor (PM), a device which constantly monitors the vital signs of the patient. This paper reports on a review of the scientific literature on the usability of PMs in critical care. A detailed analysis of the data reveals that: (i) PMs are undergoing a slow, but continuous process of evolution with new advances focusing on enhancing the interaction between the caregivers and the PM, (ii) the usability of PMs is beginning to receive particular attention as usability is now considered to be strongly associated with patient safety. The data from this study will be used to carry out further investigations into the usability of PMs and to inform the design of future PMs.
The diagnosis of late onset sepsis in neonates is complex and therefore usually late, resulting i... more The diagnosis of late onset sepsis in neonates is complex and therefore usually late, resulting in increased risks. The Digi-NewB project proposes a novel solution to this problem, by designing a non-invasive Decision Support System (DSS) which will use vital signs, images and sounds to measure the risk of sepsis in the preterm infant and therefore support clinicians in diagnosis. The introduction of any new system to a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment presents a challenge for designers who must account for a technology laden environment and a demanding work-load for clinicians. To define the user needs and therefore build the first use cases for such a system, a multi-method approach was adopted and is described in this paper. This approach consisted of a period of ethnography, eleven semi-structured interviews and the application of a prototyping exercise based on the principles of participatory design.
Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics Series, 2010
Safety
Paediatric homecare is an advancing field of healthcare, bringing care direct to patients in thei... more Paediatric homecare is an advancing field of healthcare, bringing care direct to patients in their own homes. Risk management is an integral component of homecare services, including incident and risk assessment management. The objective of the study was to investigate risk management in homecare focusing on two aspects: incident reporting and risk assessments. A Grounded Theory approach was used to gather key functions of these aspects; these were then mapped using the Functional Resonance Analysis method (FRAM). Nineteen nurses working in paediatric homecare services were interviewed for the study. The interviews were semi-structured and focused on risk, quality, complaints, audit, care, and management. The interview data were transcribed and coded using Nvivo; the data were then converted into functions for utilization in the FRAM tool. The FRAM detailed the process of incident reporting and risk assessment management of the actual work carried out as viewed by the participants o...
Proceedings of the international conference on Ergonomics & Human Factors 2012, Blackpool, UK, 16-19 April 2012, 2012
AHFE International
Anthropometrics is the measurement of dimensions of the human body defined between fixed anatomic... more Anthropometrics is the measurement of dimensions of the human body defined between fixed anatomical landmarks (). The human body however does not generally lend itself to simple measurement as the limits or position of anatomical landmarks can often be open to interpretation. Given that effective anthropometric practices are dependent on the validity of the anthropometric data, it is critical that anthropometrists have confidence in the data they use. This paper discusses existing practices in determining anthropometric measurement error and introduces the Six Sigma technique, Gauge Repeatability & Reproducibility, to the discipline of anthropometry.
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2012
Radiotherapy and Oncology, 2015