Author Archives: stevenshorrock

About stevenshorrock

I am a systems ergonomist/human factors specialist and work psychologist with a background in practice and research in safety-critical industries. My main interest is human and system behaviour in the context of safety-related organisations. I seek to enable improvement via a combination of systems thinking, design thinking and humanistic thinking. I am a Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist with the CIEHF and a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society. I currently work as a human factors and safety specialist in air traffic control in Europe. I am also Adjunct Associate Professor at University of the Sunshine Coast, Centre for Human Factors & Sociotechnical Systems. I blog in a personal capacity. Views expressed here are mine and not those of any affiliated organisation, unless stated otherwise. You can find me on twitter at @stevenshorrock

The Organisational Homelessness of ‘Human Factors’

Posted on 06/04/2018

Most fields of professional activity have a settled home within the divisional and departmental structures of organisations. Operational staff work in operational divisions. Engineering staff work in engineering divisions. Everyone else tends to know their place: finance, human resources, legal, … Continue reading →

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Human Factors and Ergonomics: Looking Back to Look Forward

Posted on 25/02/2018

During the second world war, the United States lost hundreds of planes in accidents that were deemed ‘pilot error’. Crash landings were a particular problem for the Boeing B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’. The planes were functioning as designed, and the pilots … Continue reading →

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Learning from Communities: A Conversation with Cormac Russell

Posted on 11/01/2018

The study of communities and community-building activities can provide important insights into collaboration within and between organisations. Over the last 21 years Cormac Russell has worked in 35 countries, with communities, agencies, non-governmental organisations and governments. This post includes the podcast and transcript of a conversation between Cormac Russell and me, about learning from communities. Continue reading →

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Bonding and bridging: Expanding who ‘we’ are

Posted on 15/12/2017

The text in this post is from the Editorial of HindSight magazine, Issue 26, on Safety at the Interfaces: Collaboration at Work, available for download here. Over the past decade or so, my colleagues and I have spent a lot … Continue reading →

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Four Kinds of Human Factors: 4. Socio-Technical System Interaction

Posted on 07/10/2017

This is the fourth in a series of posts on different ‘kinds’ of human factors, as understood both within and outside the discipline and profession of human factors and ergonomics itself. The first post explored human factors as ‘the human … Continue reading →

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Four Kinds of Human Factors: 3. Factors Affecting Humans

Posted on 18/09/2017

This third post explores another perspective on ‘human factors’: Factors Affecting Humans. Continue reading →

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Four Kinds of ‘Human Factors’: 2. Factors of Humans

Posted on 12/08/2017

This second post in a series on Four Kinds of ‘Human Factors’ explores another kind of human factors: Factors of Humans. Continue reading →

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