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HUMAN ERROR, HUMAN FACTORS AND

HUMAN AND ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE

WHY DO I NEED THIS COURSE?

Many countries and companies have given increasing attention to health, safety and environment, the development of modern production technologies and HSE management systems, which certainly helps reduce safety risks and prevent industrial accidents. However, the Zero Accident objective remains distant even for the world’s leading companies.

Over and over again we hear about man-made disasters, environmental and industrial accidents. They are often due to “human factors” – personal habits, values, beliefs, qualities (for example, low risk perception, lack of attention, stress), organizational factors and job factors. Their unlucky combinations create a “volatile mix” and may cause “human error.”

This course is organizational, psychological and practical. It explains “human factors” and the causes of “human error” and develops skills in operational safety management.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

During the course, participants will learn to:

  • identify 3 aspects of “human factors” that may cause “human error”: 1) the individual, 2) the organization and 3) the job;

  • assess a person’s inclination to engage in risky behaviour;

  • identify memory and attention issues, identify monotonous jobs;

  • identify working conditions that cause stress;

  • encourage safe behaviour in the workplace;

  • identify and eliminate organizational and job factors that may cause human error;

  • implement actions aimed at preventing “human factors” in the workplace.

WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

The course is intended for health and safety specialists and managers, line managers, department and unit heads and all those who are responsible for risk and resource management. 

WHAT IS THE COURSE PROGRAM?

  • 3 aspects of human factors – the individual, the organization and the job.

  • The individual factors – the psychology of error:

    • Attention and memory as cognitive processes that can affect job performance and safety in the workplace.

      • Practical Session 1.

    • The psychology of risky behaviour:

      • the concept of risky behaviour and its varieties;

      • different perceptions of risk;

      • certain situations in a person’s life that encourage the inclination to engage in risky behaviour;

      • modern psychological assessment methods for an adult person’s inclination to engage in risky behaviour in the workplace.

      • Practical Session 2.

    • The psychology of work-related stress:

      • the concept of stress, work-related stress;

      • Practical Session 3;

      • managing work-related stress in HSE;

      • stress-related psychosocial phenomena: monotony, workaholism, burnout syndrome;

      • Practical Session 4;

      • psychological techniques for reducing stress.

    • The psychology and modern techniques of encouraging safe behaviour:

      • ​positive methods to improve employee motivation in HSE;

      • Practical Session 5.

  • How organizational factors affect employee behaviour and may cause human error and how to prevent human error: 

    • Safety culture that sets the tone for individual and group behaviour;

    • HSE leadership that determines priorities at work (speed? quality? safety?);

    • Sufficiency of resources – does management allocate enough financial, technical, human, temporal resources for HSE?

    • Communications – how effective are different methods and means of HSE communication, what is the level of employee commitment, are employees consulted about HSE issues?

    • Do line managers monitor compliance with HSE requirements and how do they respond to unsafe behaviour – to prevent violation of rules and human error?

    • Failure to establish a proper work and rest schedule that may contribute to human error;

    • Practical Session 6.

  • How job factors affect employee behaviour and may cause human error and how to prevent human error: 

    • The job – the nature of the job itself, the ergonomic requirements;

    • The workload – the amount, pace, length and variety of the job, monitoring a worker’s own job performance;

    • The workspace and the workplace conditions;

    • Display equipment and controls that may contribute to a higher likelihood of human error;

    • Procedures – the availability and quality of operating procedures and guidelines;

    • Practical Session 7.

HOW LONG IS THE COURSE AND WHAT IS THE FORMAT?

2 days 

Corporate courses are provided at a client’s request. For corporate groups of 8 and more participants, we will be happy to provide on-site corporate courses at any location in Canada or the USA on a company’s premises on dates convenient for the client.

IS IT PRACTICAL? IS IT FUN?

The course is interactive, and it is based on the interaction between an instructor and participants. To illustrate the learning materials, an instructor uses a variety of examples from international companies’ practices. The program is designed as a workshop (mini-lectures, discussions, group work with analysis of business cases). Most of the assignments are hands-on and aimed at developing participants’ practical skills.

CERTIFICATE

Upon successful completion of the course, participants will be issued a certificate of completion.

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