Dr. Yvonne Toft, Ph.D.

Associate Professor in Human Factors & Systems Safety, School of Health, Medical & Applied Sciences Chief Investigator/Research Group Leader: Human Factors in Engineering, Centre for Railway Engineering Tertiary Education Division, CQUniversity, Australia

Dr Yvonne Toft is a renowned personality in Australia in the field of Safety Sciences and is presently associate professor in Human Factors & Systems Safety, and Head of Programs, Transport & Safety Sciences in the Higher Education Division, Central Queensland University, Australia.  She has done her PhD from CQ University, Australia .She believes LISTENING to Safety Science is a very important area for the entire global society.

Yvonne currently leads a dynamic transdisciplinary program group teaching and researching in areas related to human factors engineering, OHS, accident forensics & investigation, operational systems safety and technology, risk engineering and fatigue risk management in public safety, industrial and transport related contexts (including aviation, rail and road). CQU has a dedicated purpose-built multi-modal ‘forensic investigation crash lab’ (in Bundaberg) for simulation of accident scenarios and investigation; and the team also research and teach with colleagues from the Centre for Railway Engineering and the Appleton Institute.

Her current lead roles in teaching include socio-technical systems analysis and design, human factors engineering, accident investigation and analysis, systems safety, ethics, logic and scientific reasoning, research and design.  She has won multiple institutional, national and international awards for curriculum innovation.  She is passionate about empowering people to achieve optimal outcomes in systems whether that be her own staff, her students or users of socio-technical systems.

Current lead roles in research include grants with the Collaborative Research Centre for Rail Innovation, for example, development of human factors analysis tools for the introduction of new technologies; cost effective redesign of rural and occupational level crossings to prevent vehicle-train collisions; socio-technical analysis of new technology integration for track worker safety; network investment vs safety of pedestrian crossings; human factors considerations in LED signalling and optimisation of learning from level crossing near collisions.

Yvonne has a long history of active involvement and leadership in multiple professional associations nationally and internationally spanning safety, engineering, human factors and learning & teaching.

Specialties: reduction of design-induced end user error sources in original engineering design, accident analysis, prediction of error sources, systems safety, transdisciplinary communication and design, professional communities of practice, innovation of curriculum design in flexible learning.

She has completed various courses from Stanford University, Michigan University, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton school of  University of Pennsylvania, etc

CV and publication list