Human factors - what are they?

Essentially, human factors can be defined as anything that affects an individual’s performance.

A human factors approach to patient safety starts with an understanding of the things that support or hinder the way people work. The premise is that the "design of our workplace, equipment and working processes should be based on human abilities and characteristics – how we process information, communicate, make decisions and remember things – rather than expecting people to adapt to the poorly designed world around them" (Norris et al. 2012, p.37).

This graphic helps to explain what this means.

In this model the red circle contains those actions or omissions that directly affect performance. These factors happen at the sharp end of practice.
In the outermost circle are the factors that have the potential to change the direct factors (for better or worse).
The patient sits at the centre and can be harmed by the system that is intended to benefit them.
However there are ways to manage these factors through interventions.

Thinking about people, thinking about systems

A human factors approach to system design considers the characteristics and abilities of the people who work in the system and how to organise them effectively so that the system works.

The system also includes the equipment, devices, medication and information systems being used; the jobs and tasks being carried out; the physical environments and workplaces in which they are carried out; and the teams, organisations and the culture within which that happens.

Changes to the design of physical things, such as the interfaces of devices, control panels, packaging, lighting levels or storage can make a big difference to how people work. Taking this approach also means looking at processes such as how tasks fit together in a working day: how are tasks prioritised? What information is needed to make a decision? How are tasks co-ordinated across teams and departments?

Healthcare organisations use policies and guidelines to improve efficiency, productivity and safety. All too often little attention is paid to how implementation impacts on working practices (Carthey et al.).