What is human factoris
WHAT IS HUMAN FACTORS?
Understanding human factors
Human factors (also known as ergonomics) is the scientific discipline concerned with understanding how people interact with systems, equipment, processes, and environments — and applying that knowledge to improve safety and performance.
In healthcare, human factors asks not who made a mistake, but why the system allowed the mistake to occur.
A systems-based approach to safety
- Make it easy to do the right thing
- Make it hard to do the wrong thing
- Anticipate human limitations such as fatigue, distraction, and cognitive overload
- Build in safeguards that catch errors before they reach patients
- Key concepts
- Systems thinking: Safety is a property of systems, not individuals
- Human error: Normal and expected in complex environments
- Just culture: Learning focused accountability rather than blame
- Teamwork and communication: Critical determinants of safe care