Workshop 4
Tracks
Stream D
| Thursday, October 29, 2026 |
| 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM |
Overview
Complex until people drive it: Human-centred safety design in heavy vehicle fleets | 2 hours
Presenter
Dr Nicholas Duck
Opposite
Complex until people drive it: Human-centred safety design in heavy vehicle fleets
9:00 AM - 11:00 AMAbstract
Safety systems in high-risk industries are complex by nature. Outcomes depend on the interaction of individual behaviour, organisational conditions, technology design, and regulatory environment. This workshop draws on three connected research projects to show how human-centred design (HCD), applied systematically to that complexity, can produce practical safety improvements in heavy vehicle transport.
In 2024, Australia recorded its highest road toll in over a decade, with more than 1,300 lives lost. Of these, 179 deaths involved heavy vehicles, approximately 14% of all road fatalities. While heavy vehicles represent a small proportion of Australia's registered fleet, they are involved in a disproportionate share of fatal crashes. Road freight is projected to grow by 77% between 2020 and 2050, and the National Road Safety Strategy 2021–30 aims to reduce road deaths by at least 50% by 2030 as part of Australia's Vision Zero ambition, though progress within the heavy vehicle sector remains uneven.
Safety outcomes in road freight are shaped by interacting system factors including fatigue, scheduling pressure, organisational capability, and the usability of safety technologies. Interventions focused solely on individual behaviour or compliance are unlikely to deliver sustained improvements. Human-centred design provides a structured methodology for working through this complexity, designing safety tools around the needs, behaviours, and working environments of the people who use them.
Three National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR)-funded projects apply HCD to heavy vehicle safety. Wide Awake examined fatigue risk through scheduling and organisational practices, using co-design and wearable technology to develop practical interventions. Fit for Fleet Safety addressed the capability gap faced by small fleet operators through a co-designed digital toolkit. Drive S(AI)FE, currently in Phase 2, applies HCD principles to AI-assisted fatigue monitoring, focusing on trust, transparency, and human–AI interaction in a safety-critical context.
The workshop guides participants through applying the Double Diamond HCD framework to prototype an AI fatigue monitoring interface, and reflects on what organisational psychology contributes when safety-critical work increasingly involves AI systems. Participants leave with practical tools for adapting HCD methods to complex, system-level safety challenges.
In 2024, Australia recorded its highest road toll in over a decade, with more than 1,300 lives lost. Of these, 179 deaths involved heavy vehicles, approximately 14% of all road fatalities. While heavy vehicles represent a small proportion of Australia's registered fleet, they are involved in a disproportionate share of fatal crashes. Road freight is projected to grow by 77% between 2020 and 2050, and the National Road Safety Strategy 2021–30 aims to reduce road deaths by at least 50% by 2030 as part of Australia's Vision Zero ambition, though progress within the heavy vehicle sector remains uneven.
Safety outcomes in road freight are shaped by interacting system factors including fatigue, scheduling pressure, organisational capability, and the usability of safety technologies. Interventions focused solely on individual behaviour or compliance are unlikely to deliver sustained improvements. Human-centred design provides a structured methodology for working through this complexity, designing safety tools around the needs, behaviours, and working environments of the people who use them.
Three National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR)-funded projects apply HCD to heavy vehicle safety. Wide Awake examined fatigue risk through scheduling and organisational practices, using co-design and wearable technology to develop practical interventions. Fit for Fleet Safety addressed the capability gap faced by small fleet operators through a co-designed digital toolkit. Drive S(AI)FE, currently in Phase 2, applies HCD principles to AI-assisted fatigue monitoring, focusing on trust, transparency, and human–AI interaction in a safety-critical context.
The workshop guides participants through applying the Double Diamond HCD framework to prototype an AI fatigue monitoring interface, and reflects on what organisational psychology contributes when safety-critical work increasingly involves AI systems. Participants leave with practical tools for adapting HCD methods to complex, system-level safety challenges.
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Dr Nicholas Duck is an organisational psychologist and Director of Opposite, a consultancy specialising in human-centred safety, work design and behavioural innovation. Nick leads NHVR-funded projects including Wide Awake, Fit for Fleet Safety and Drive S(AI)FE, which apply human-centred design, behavioural science and AI to improve safety outcomes in heavy vehicle transport. His work focuses on translating complex human factors evidence into practical tools that operators, drivers and managers can use in real operational environments. Nick has extensive experience partnering with regulators, transport operators and safety-critical organisations to co-design solutions that balance compliance, performance and wellbeing. He is particularly interested in the human side of human–AI collaboration – trust, transparency and explainability – and how organisational psychologists can help shape safer, more intuitive safety technologies and systems.
