The module meets the Care Certificate Standards: 3. Duty of Care; 13. Health and Safety; 14. Handling information; 15. Infection prevention and control
A number of high-profile enquiries into avoidable deaths and abuse within health and social care across organisations in the UK have contributed to an unprecedented priority for services to improve safe practice. Human Factors (HF) or as it is often referred to ‘ergonomics’ is a specific scientific discipline which dominates safety in High Reliability/Safety Critical Industries and Organisations such as the military, aviation and energy sectors. The principles are acknowledged as vital to safety improvement across both health and services estranged to health and allied professions.



Human Factors will be introduced and within the context of Health and Social Care and will consider how this knowledge can be used to support and promote both Safe Practice and Quality performance.



During this module you will be provided with:

1. a clear knowledge and understanding of concept and definitions of Human Factors; there will be an opportunity to unpick some of the myths and misconceptions around these terms.

2. A history of the development of the Human Factors discipline and related theories and the development of the profession both within the UK and internationally

3. Knowledge and understanding of how Human Factors is viewed both within the UK and internationally, including its role within the Patient Safety agenda. This will be placed within the integrated health and social care Human Factors journey addressing contemporary concerns with respect to safe practice, including Patient, Service User and Staff safety, health and wellbeing.

4. Expectations of a Human Factors Professional, including the code of conduct and ethical requirements of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF)

5. An Overview of the Human Factors Professional Competencies (including the related science, methods & theories as appropriate) and how these can support Health and Social care.

6. Explore how human factors as a discipline can help address issues relating to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), such as situations that cause EDI issues and solutions on how to overcomes these.

Produce an evaluation and reflective report on applying the lessons learnt from a publicly available Investigation Report to a review of your own organisation (or a virtual organisation) culture, leadership, teamwork and management that significantly impacted patient or service user safety

The assessment meets all the learning outcomes.

Produce an evaluation and reflective report on applying the lessons learnt from a publicly available Investigation Report to a review of your own organisation (or a virtual organisation) culture, leadership, teamwork and management that significantly impacted patient or service user safety

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities: (30¿hours)¿¿

15 hours Face -to-face lectures including guest speakers from the health and social care sector and service users

15 hours Seminars and workshops including participatory approaches such as role plays, gender role analysis, focus groups discussions, systems modelling and interacting with culture cards.



Independent Study Hours: (120)

Assessment preparation and independent reading of UK and international research



Guided Independent Study Hours (50):

This included Blackboard online learning materials, tasks, discussion forums and links

2. Demonstrate current, systematic knowledge and understanding of the¿Human Factors systems approach, methods, sciences and principles and the importance of applying this knowledge within an integrated Health and Social Care Setting

.Knowledge and Understanding

2. Critically relate with the developing Human Factors agenda within the Health and Social Care sector and be able to critically evaluate the appropriateness of the response for improving safe practice

Knowledge and Understanding, Analysis , Application

3. Identify, analyse and critically evaluate national and international Human Factors research findings in relation to the needs of the Health and Social Care sector for patient, service user and staff safe practice

Learning, Enquiry

4. Recognises the importance of the Systems Thinking approach for achieving understanding and decision making within and across team boundaries

Analysis, Application, Problem Solving, Reflection

You will have access to a range of materials on Blackboard VLE including articles, session slides, and interactive activities. You will also be able to access a variety of digital material through our Library and specialist databases.

Shorrock, S. and Williams, C. (2016) Human Factors and Ergonomics in Practice: Improving System Performance and Human Well-Being in the Real World. Routledge.

Carayon, P. (2017) Handbook of Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety (2nd Edition). CRC Press.

CIEHF (2018) Human Factors for Health and Social Care – white paper. London: Redactive

Rosenorn-Lanng, D. (2015) Human factors in healthcare. OUP, Oxford

What does Human Factors really mean and why it is important for patient, service user and staff safety and wellbeing? Human Factors is concerned with the application of what we know about people (our abilities, characteristics and limitations) to the design and management of equipment we use, environments in which we function and the activities we have to perform. This module provides you with an introduction to Human Factors, the profession and the national and international response from the Health and Social Care sectors. We will also explore how Human Factors as a discipline can help address issues relating to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), such as situations that cause EDI issues and potential solutions on how to overcome these.