Jens Rasmussen (11 May 1926 – 5 February 2018) was a
system safety
The system safety concept calls for a risk management strategy based on identification, analysis of hazards and application of remedial controls using a systems-based approach. This is different from traditional safety strategies which rely on c ...
,
human factors
Human factors and ergonomics (commonly referred to as human factors) is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Four primary goals of human factors learnin ...
and
cognitive systems engineering
Cognitive systems engineering (CSE) is a field of study that examines the intersection of people, work, and technology, with a focus on safety-critical systems. The central tenet of cognitive systems engineering is that it views a collection of peo ...
researcher at the
Risø National Laboratory in
Risø,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
. He was highly influential within the field of safety science,
human error
Human error refers to something having been done that was " not intended by the actor; not desired by a set of rules or an external observer; or that led the task or system outside its acceptable limits".Senders, J.W. and Moray, N.P. (1991) Human ...
and accident research. His contributions include the
skills, rules, knowledge (SRK) framework, risk management framework, dynamic safety model,
AcciMap Approach, and others.
Biography
Rasmussen was born in
Ribe
Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,257 (2022). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe covering southwestern Jutland. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding Ribe Municipality, municipali ...
, Denmark. In 1950, he earned an M.Sc. degree in electronic engineering,
with a background in control engineering.
After completing his degree, he worked for several years at the Radio Receiver Research Laboratory.
In 1956, Rasmussen was recruited to work at the Danish Atomic Energy Commission. After several years, he was named the head of the Electronics Department at the Atomic Research Establishment Risø (eventually renamed
Risø National Laboratory).
In 1981, Rasmussen was appointed Research Professor at both the
Technical University of Denmark
The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fi ...
and at
Risø National Laboratory.
Contributions
Dynamic safety model
Rasmussen proposed a state-based model of a socio-technical system as a system that moves within a region of a state space.
The region is surrounded by three boundaries:
* economic failure
* unacceptable work load
* functionality acceptable performance
Incentives push the system towards the boundary of acceptable performance: accidents happen when the boundary is exceeded.
Risk management framework
Rasmussen proposed a multi-layer view of socio-technical systems, with hazardous processes and work at the lowest level, and government at the highest level.
The different levels involve different research disciplines (e.g., mechanical, chemical, and electrical engineering at the lowest level, political science, la, economics, and sociology at the highest level, and other domains in-between) and different environmental stressors (e.g., changing political climate at the top level, fast pace of technological change at the lowest level)
Skills, rules, knowledge (SRK) framework
See
Skills, Rules, Knowledge (SRK) framework.
Abstraction hierarchy
See
the abstraction hierarchy.
Ecological interface design
See
Ecological interface design
Ecological interface design (EID) is an approach to interface design that was introduced specifically for complex sociotechnical, real-time, and dynamic systems. It has been applied in a variety of domains including process control (e.g. nuclear po ...
.
AcciMaps
See
AcciMap approach.
Selected publications
Books
*
*
* Jens Rasmussen (2000)
''Proactive Risk Management in a Dynamic Society''. Swedish Rescue Services Agency ISBN 9172530847.
Papers
*
*
*
References
The Legacy of Jens Rasmussen special issue of Applied Ergonomics, Volume 59, Part, B, Pages 471-656 (March 2017)
The Legacy of Jens Rasmussen, Adjunct ODAM 2014 Symposium
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasmussen, Jens
1926 births
2018 deaths
Danish academics
Safety engineering
People from Ribe
Academic staff of the Technical University of Denmark
Electrical engineers