THE CONTRIBUTION OF KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES TO THE ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS

The process of improving safety in modern industrial systems continues to stimulate considerable debate. One way this issue is being address ed is through the expansion of training programs and the use of other behavioural interventions. The success of this depends on the identifi cation of appropriate interventions. By considering the problem as one in which we wish to understand the knowledge and beliefs associated w ith a task, the problems faced by those involved in the assessment of training needs and other behavioural interventions can be seen as thos e already familiar to knowledge engineers involved with the constructi on of intelligent knowledge based systems. It is argued that the exper ience gained in addressing the problems associated with knowledge acqu isition, can be equally well applied to the process of safety assessme nt. Two simple pilot studies are described to illustrate one way in wh ich knowledge acquisition could be used to identify potential safety t raining needs.