People in Control: A Conversation With Captain James Burnell

Aviation is heavily reliant on procedures, but procedures can never replace human adaptivity in all…

The Wrong Kidney

The post discusses a short fictional film, ‘The Wrong Kidney’, created to explore the complexities…

“Why Are We Having More Incidents?” Causal Loops in Reactions to Unwanted Events

One way to understand the links between unwanted events, conditions and interventions is via causal…

Set Taxonomies to Neutral

Twenty years ago, I completed my PhD on human factors in air traffic control. Part…

Human Performance in the Spotlight: ‘Human Error’ and ‘Honest Mistakes’

This article is a reproduction of an article published in HindSight magazine issue 35 in September 2023 (all issues available…

Why Is It Just So Difficult? Barriers to ‘Just Culture’ in the Real World

This article is a reproduction of an article published in HindSight magazine issue 35 in September 2023 (all issues available…

Who Are We to Judge? From Work-as-Done to Work-as-Judged

This article is a reproduction of the Editorial published in HindSight magazine issue 35 in September 2023 (all issues…

HindSight 35: Just Culture…Revisited is out now

HindSight is a magazine on human and organisational factors in operations. HindSight magazine is free and…

Postcards From Work: Exploring Archetypes of Human Work Through Micro-Narratives

Understanding the complexities and nuances of human work is critical if we are to improve how work really works. In healthcare, as clinicians and other healthcare professionals navigate their roles, they encounter a diverse array of situations that create goal conflicts, dilemmas and other challenges. One way to explore these is via micro-narratives. These are short stories based on personal observations and experiences. One method to capture these is via simple written postcards. Postcards from Work (Healthcare Edition) delves into these experiences.

Learning in the Heat of the Moment: An Interview With Sabrina Cohen-Hatton

In the heat of the moment, how do we make decisions, individually and collectively? And how can we improve decision-making at work? Steven Shorrock interviews firefighter and psychologist Sabrina Cohen-Hatton, about her work on decision-making in the emergency services, her journey from firefighter to Chief Fire Officer, and her extraordinary life.