Fundamentals of systems ergonomics/human factors

•New definition of systems ergonomics/human factors.•Identification of six fundamental components of systems ergonomics/human factors.•Illustrations of ideas through real contemporary examples from rail systems.

Ergonomics/human factors is, above anything else, a systems discipline and profession, applying a systems philosophy and systems approaches. Many things are labelled as system in today's world, and this paper specifies just what attributes and notions define ergonomics/human factors in systems terms. These are obviously a systems focus, but also concern for context, acknowledgement of interactions and complexity, a holistic approach, recognition of emergence and embedding of the professional effort involved within organization system. These six notions are illustrated with examples from a large body of work on rail human factors.