About Fort Hill Group

Fort Hill Group, LLC is a woman-owned small business which provides services related to the identification and mitigation of risk associated with human performance in complex systems. Fort Hill Group specializes in helping clients better understand how humans contribute both positively and negatively to the overall risk picture in a given domain.

Associates at Fort Hill Group have worked to improve safety and mitigate human performance hazards in a variety of domains including commercial and general aviation, air traffic control, mining, entertainment, and health care.

Recent publications and presentations by Fort Hill Group associates include:

2013

• Berry, K., Sawyer, M, Austrian E. (2013). Outcome-Based Risk Pathways: Utilizing Safety Reports to Understand Risks in Air Traffic Control. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2013, Dayton OH
• Sawyer, M., Berry, K., Austrian E., (2013). Assessing The Effects of Off-Nominal Conditions on NextGen Air Traffic Control Operations. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2013, Dayton OH
• Berry, K., Sawyer, M., (2013). Assessing the Changing Human Performance Risk Profile In The NextGen Mid-term. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2013, Dayton OH
• Austrian E., Piccione, D. (2013). The FAA’s Human Factors Air Traffic Control / Technical Operations Strategic Research Plan. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2013, Dayton OH
• Austrian E., Sierra, E. (2013). Applied Human Factors Research For The Technical Operations Organization of the Federal Aviation Administration. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2013, Dayton OH
• Sawyer, M., Berry, K., Austrian E., (2013). Risk Pathways: Quantifying the Risks Present in Narrative-Based Safety Event Reports. In proceedings of International Symposium on Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care 2013, Baltimore, MD

2012

• Berry, K., Sawyer, M., Austrian, E. (2012). Behind the Scenes of NextGen: Describing the Impact of NextGen Operational Improvements on the Traffic Manager, In proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2012, Boston, MA

• Sawyer, M., Berry, K., Austrian, E. (2012). Analysis of New Proposed Air Traffic Control Alerts in the NextGen Midterm, In proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2012, Boston, MA
• Berry, K., Sawyer, M., Austrian, E. (2012). AirTracs: The Development and Application of an Air Traffic Safety Taxonomy for Trend Analysis, In Proceedings of International Conference on Interdisciplinary Science for Air Traffic Management 2012, Daytona Beach, FL
• Sawyer, M., Berry, K., Austrian, E. (2012). The Use of Odds Ratios and Relative Risk to Quantify Systemic Risk Pathways in Air Traffic Control, In Proceedings of International Society of Air Safety Investigators Annual Seminar 2012, Baltimore, MD
• Berry, K., Sawyer, M. (2012). Assessing the Impact of NextGen Trajectory Based Operations on Human Performance, In S. Landry (Ed.), Advances in Human Aspects of Aviation. (2012). Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis.

2011

• Sawyer, M, Berry, K., Blanding, R. (2011). Assessing the Human Contribution to Risk in NextGen. In proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2011, Las Vegas, NV
• Berry, K, Sawyer, M., Blanding, R., Karniej, S. (2011). Investigating Air Traffic Control Human Performance: A Comparison of Active Errors and Latent Failures by Controller Task. In proceedings of International Society for Occupational Ergonomics & Safety 2011, Baltimore, MD
• Kirwan, B, Kilner, A., Gibson, H., Piccione, D., M. Sawyer. (2011). The development and application of CARA – a HRA tool for Air Traffic Management systems. In proceedings of the European Safety and Reliability Association Annual Conference 2011. Troyes, France.
• Berry, K, Sawyer, M. (2011). Application of a Human Error Taxonomy for the Identification of Air Traffic Control Errors and Causation. In proceedings of International Symposium on Aviation Psychology 2011, Dayton OH

2010

• Zemrowski, K, M. Sawyer. (2010). Impacts of Increasing Reliance on Automation in Air Traffic Control Systems. Journal of Air Traffic Control, 52 (4), 49-55.
• Grindinger, T., A. Duchowsk, M. Sawyer. (2010). Group-Wise Similarity and Classification of Aggregate Scanpaths.  In proceedings of Eye-Tracking Research and Applications Symposium 2010, Austin, TX.
• Sawyer, M., K. Berry, D. Piccione. (2010). Human Hazard Analysis Methodology for NextGen.In proceedings of Eurocontrol Safety R&D Seminar 2010, Brétigny-sur-Orge, France.
• Berry, K., Stringfellow, P., Shappell, S. (2010). Examining Error Pathways: An Analysis of Contributing Factors Using HFACS in Non-Aviation Industries, In proceedings of Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting 2010, San Francisco, CA