1.1 This practice provides ergonomic design criteria from a human-machine perspective for the design and construction of maritime vessels and structures and for equipment, systems, and subsystems contained therein, including vendor-purchased hardware and software.

1.1.1 The focus of these design criteria is on the design and evaluation of human-machine interfaces, including the interfaces between humans on the one side and controls and displays, physical environments, structures, consoles, panels and workstations, layout and arrangement of ship spaces, maintenance workplaces, labels and signage, alarms, computer screens, material handling, valves, and other specific equipment on the other.

1.2 The criteria contained within this practice shall be applied to the design and construction of all hardware and software within a ship or maritime structure that the human crew members come in contact in any manner for operation, habitability, and maintenance purposes.

1.3 Unless otherwise stated in specific provisions of a ship or maritime structure design contract or specification, this practice is to be used to design maritime vessels, structures, equipment, systems, and subsystems to fit the full potential user population range of 5th % females to 95th % males.