Human error resource management

Management policies are the source of many of the preconditions that give rise to systems failures. For example, if no explicit policy exists or if resources are not made available for safety critical areas such as procedures design, the effective presentation of process information, or for ensuring that effective communication systems exist, then human error leading to an accident is, at some stage, inevitable. Such policy failures can be regarded as another form of latent human error, and will be discussed in more detail in Section 2.7. 

How might poor human resources management in pharmacies cause (a) job stress and burnout, (b) medication dispensing errors, and (c) pharmacist shortages ... 

Wiegmann, D. and Shappell, S. (1999), Human Error and Crew Resource Management Failures in Naval Aviation Mishaps A Review of U.S. Naval Safety Centre Data, 9%-96 Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine, 70,1147-1151. 

Part 4 is a collection of human factors interventions from the different indnstry modes. It will introdnce the concept that human error is indeed ubicpiitous and therefore, its management should be approached from multiple applications training and development, leadership and supervision, situational awareness, distraction management etc. Novel elements in this part include research on driver distraction, medical team resource management, a new look at situational awareness, rail risk management and fatigue management in the medical field. 

The military is probably one of the biggest consumers of human error prediction, especially as related to crew resource management during combat. 

The other global dimension of the systems approach is the need for the existence of policies which address human factors issues at senior levels in the company. This implies that senior management realizes that resources spent on programs to reduce error will be as cost-effective as investments in engineered safety systems. 

Hospital B s experience is not unique. The net effect of the completion rate measure has been that it produces data which show that many actions are not completed within a specified time frame. This has, in some hospitals led senior managers to call into question the value of the walk rounds or to drive behaviour to focus on problems that can be fixed easily. Thus the lack of integration of human factors into hospital and medical device design and the allocation of staffing and resources gets put into an unresolvable box and remain latent conditions that continue to create error traps, inefficiencies and poor patient experience. 

One of the key benefits of integrating human factors into risk assessment is proactive identification and prevention of human failure, whether it be an error or violatioa As with all risk management, the level and depth of analysis and the time and resources should be commensurate with the level of risk involved. 

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