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Tag Archives: systems thinking
The Real Focus of Safety-II
Safety-II has become a talking point. It is discussed not only among safety professionals, but – perhaps more importantly – among front line practitioners, managers, board members and regulators in a wide array of industries. Its practical and inclusive focus … Continue reading
Human Factors at the Fringe: BaseCamp
A legendary rivalry: one mountain and two climbers seeking to be the best. We join them at basecamp as they prepare for the challenges of the ascent. Invited into separate tents to join just one of the two climbers, audiences … Continue reading
Bonding and Bridging at the Philosophical Breakfast Club
On 26 April 2018, I presented at the ‘Philosophical Breakfast Club’ (@philosophicalBC) conference on High Performing Teams (#PBCHPT2018). It was a remarkable conference bringing together healthcare professionals, psychologists, sports scientists, athletes, managers, human factors/ergonomics specialists, military officers and specialists, and others, My first conversation while having tea before the conference was with a spinal surgeon and bomb disposal expert. Throughout the conference I had many other fascinating conversations with people from a diverse range of backgrounds.
This leads me to the focus of my talk: collaboration at the interfaces, and what happens between teams, groups, professions, layers of management, organisations… In this post, I summarise the talk, slide by slide, with tweet-sized explanations. Continue reading
Four Kinds of Human Factors: 4. Socio-Technical System Interaction
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
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, systems thinking
Tagged ergonomics, human factors, safety, systems thinking
3 Comments
The Varieties of Human Work
The analysis of work cannot be limited to work as prescribed in procedures etc (le travail prescrit), nor to the observation of work actually done (le travail réalisé). Similarly, it cannot be limited to work as we imagine it, nor work as people talk about it. Only by considering all four of these varieties of human work can we hope to understand what’s going on. Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, systems thinking
Tagged aviation, ergonomics, field experts, focus groups, healthcare, human factors, interviews, observation, oil and gas, policy, procedures, QF32, rail, safety, safety-I, safety-II, systems thinking, task analysis, WebOps, work to rule, work-as-disclosed, work-as-done, work-as-imagined, work-as-judged
11 Comments
Human Factors at The Fringe: My Eyes Went Dark
Written and directed by Matthew Wilkinson. A thrilling modern tragedy about a Russian architect driven to revenge after losing his family in a plane crash. Cal MacAninch and Thusitha Jayasundera give electrifying performances in this searing new play about the … Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, systems thinking
Tagged accidents, art, blame, human error, human factors, just culture, management, safety, systems thinking, theatre
7 Comments
Never/zero thinking
There has been much talk in recent years about ‘never events’ and ‘zero harm’, similar to talk in the safety community about ‘zero accidents’. It sounds obvious: no one would want an accident. And we all wish that serious harm would not result from accidents. But as expressed and implemented top-down, never/zero is problematic for many reasons. In this post, I shall outline just a few, as I see them. Continue reading
Posted in Human Factors/Ergonomics, Safety, systems thinking
Tagged accidents, blame, human error, human factors, just culture, management, never events, safety, safety-I, safety-II, systems thinking, targets, zero harm
8 Comments
