Healthcare Facility Safety Lecture (5)

Healthcare Facility Safety Lecture (5)

• Human error is the leading cause of accidents in workplaces, estimated to account for up to 90% of all workplace incidents.
• Human factors are any individual characteristics that influence a person's ability to safely perform a job task.
• These characteristics can include cognitive abilities, physical abilities, and emotional states.
• Human factors are classified as organizational, job-related, and individual characteristics.

Organizational Factors

• Organizational factors stem from how an organization is structured and managed.
• Examples include: inadequate staffing levels, poorly designed jobs, lack of training, inadequate supervision, and poor housekeeping standards.
• Poor organizational factors can affect worker behavior, leading to accidents.
• Effective health and safety management systems, positive health and safety culture, adequate supervision, accurate incident reporting, and visible health and safety leadership are crucial for safety.

Job Factors

• Jobs can range from highly dangerous to negligible risk.
• Job design plays a critical role in ensuring worker safety and health.
• Ergonomics, the science of matching equipment and processes to human needs, is crucial for creating comfortable and safe workplaces.
• Examples of unsafe job factors include illogical equipment design, constant disturbances, unclear instructions, poor equipment maintenance, high workload, and noisy/unpleasant working conditions.
• Continual health and safety checks and feedback from workers are necessary to identify problem areas.

Human and Individual Characteristics Factors

• Individual characteristics, such as attitude, motivation, training, human error, and interaction with physical, mental, and perceptual capabilities greatly impact job safety.
• Factors leading to human error include fatigue, stress, lack of experience, inadequate training, poor supervision, and personal problems.
• Even if a machine malfunctions, it is not considered a human error. However, improper maintenance is considered a human organizational factor.

Methods Used in Human Factors

• Checklists help compare existing or planned systems to acceptable attributes, aiding in quick evaluations.
• Questionnaires and surveys gather information from a broad range of individuals.
• Observation is a method where an analyst observes workers performing tasks and may ask questions if needed to further gather information.
• Usability testing involves having a user complete tasks, observing their actions, and gathering feedback regarding the product or system's usability.
• Incident investigation identifies and classifies the causes leading to accidents.
• Task analysis involves identifying task elements, describing what workers do, and what information/equipment they need to perform the task.

Importance of Human Factors in Safety

• Preventing and mitigating human error.
• Designing tools, equipment, and systems that consider human capabilities and limitations, improving usability.
• Optimizing workplace environments to prevent injuries and enhance worker focus.
• Improving communication and teamwork by proactively identifying areas requiring improvement.
• Ensuring proper training and competency.
• Addressing stress and fatigue through adequate policies regarding employee work hours and stress management tools.
• Investigating accidents to identify root causes and implement preventive measures.