A task analysis is a start, but what are the enabling and terminal objectives stated in quantified measurable terms? Has the tool user ever been able to do the job satisfactorily in the past. Is performance punishing or rewarding?
Small horific anecdote regarding air driven impact tools. First this: Consider that if you don't know what you are doing with a wrench, getting hold of an air powered impact wrench is not a good idea. It just empowers you to screw up faster, worse and more often. It is faster, stronger, and has less "feel/feedback" than using a regular wrench.
I was at a location of a popular chain muffler shop that also does shocks, brakes, and like that. They, just for the sake of the story, can be called Midas Muffler and Brake. They are doing a "FREE" brake inspection which only costs about $20 for a full floating rear axle P/U truck cause they have to remove the rear drums and reassemble with new rear axle gaskets.
First the moron they let practice on my truck couldn't remove the second rear wheel because he was blissfully unaware that certain select millions of Ford trucks kept a closely guarded secret, lugs on opposite sides turn in opposite directions. So after trying to tighten the lug off the truck for a couple minutes wuith his powerful air driven impact tool turned up to the max, I suggested that he could try it in the loosening direction. He declined to "DO IT WRONG". I accepted full responsibility. He tried again and voila, the lug came off.
Manager comes over and ushers me back into waiting room with glass viewing port, to watch the animals at play, I mean men at work. I had violated the holy of holies and gone on the shop floor to rescue his miscreant bozo and save them big trouble if they broke something off, but NO get back on your side of the cage. Now with both rear wheels off he tries to take off the axle bolts. From my vantage point I cannot see that he is employing his newly learned F O R D specific secret knowledge to twist off the axle bolts. He broke two trying to tighten them off. Now that he KNEW that that side was bassackwards he was going to apply that new knowledge through extrapolation to everything on that side of the truck. Of course, unfortunately for this bozo, the FORD engineering staff used regular right hand threaded axle bolts on both sides.
They drilled them out and used ez-outs to remove them and then replaced them with bolts that were too short. It would have been fun to watch them try to use their standard ez-out on a left hand thread had he managed to twist one off! So far this chain has only bought me two new two way radio antennas due to their driving the truck through those neat advertising banners they put across their service bays. This was in two separate visits to the same store.
Regarding professional training... Apparently we must allow for slow learners.
Patrick
