Getting to grips with Human Factors

If these sorts of statements resonate with you you’re not alone. Quite often HSE Managers, Process Safety Engineers, Operations and Maintenance supervisors are too busy to research this themselves. You just don’t have the time alongside your day job.

  • Focus

    "Human Factors seems like it could include anything under the sun.”

  • Direction

    “We were criticised for our approach to Human Factors – we kept suggesting more training, checklists and procedures, but we didn’t know what else to do.”

  • Plan

    “Human Factors seems complex and overwhelming – I don’t know where to start.”

Overview

Good Human Factors practices are crucial components in high-hazard industries, ensuring that the risks for Major Accident Hazards (MAH) are mitigated. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) outline six key Human Factors areas as part of their Control of Major Accident Hazard (COMAH) regulations. This provides a very structured approach for applying Human Factors.

  • 1. Managing Human Performance

  • 2. Human Factors in Process Safety

  • 3. Critical Communications

  • 4. Design and Management of Procedures

  • 5. Competence Management Systems

  • 6. Managing Organisational Factors

While these topics are initially intended for COMAH sites across the UK, they are also applicable to industries in other regions concerned with process safety and loss prevention.

Download the HF PLC course brochure

Learning Outcomes

  • Be more familiar with the Human Factors Delivery Guide for COMAH sites and the HSE’s Human Factors Roadmap

  • Understand the importance of Human Factors for managing risks associated with Major Accident Hazards

  • Be aware of the six key Human Factors topic areas and their success criteria

  • Distinguish between the different types of human failure and effective strategies for dealing with these

  • Be aware of the core Human Reliability Assessment techniques: task analysis, failure analysis and PIF analysis

  • Understand how Human Factors Safety Critical Task Analysis (SCTA) outputs can support human performance through design, procedures and competence standards.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome to the course

    • Welcome to the course!

    • Welcome video

    • Starting the Course

    • Course Joining Instructions & Programme

    • Drop-in Coffee morning (30th November)
  • 2

    1.1. What is Human Factors?

    • Introduction to Human Factors (18mins)

    • Introduction to HF Quiz

    • Exercise 1: Incident Analysis Workshop

    • Case study: BP Texas City Animation (11min)

    • Bonus: Arguments for Human Factors
  • 3

    1.2. The Human Factors Delivery Guide

    • The Human Factors Delivery Guide (8mins)
  • 4

    1.3. Six topic areas

    • 1. Managing Human Performance (12mins)

    • Reflection: Topic 1

    • 2. Human Factors for Process Design (14mins)

    • Reflection: Topic 2

    • 3. Critical Communications (8mins)

    • Reflection: Topic 3

    • 4. & 5. Procedure development and Competence management (13mins)

    • Reflection: Topic 4 & Topic 5

    • 6. Managing Organisational Factors (5mins)

    • Reflection: Topic 6

    • Six topic areas quiz
  • 5

    Bonus: Safety Moment

    • The Power of Moments

    • Safety Moment: Individual Safety vs System Safety
  • 6

    1.4. Human Error and Mitigation Strategies

    • Types of human erorr & mitigation strategies (23mins)

    • Human Error quiz

    • Exercise 2: Types of Human Failure Workshop

    • Bonus video: Fall from Grace (25mins)
  • 7

    Reflecting on Part 1

    • Safety Moment: System Safety at Texas City

    • Reflecting on Part 1
  • 8

    2.1. Human Factors Roadmap

    • Navigating the Human Factors Roadmap (8mins)
  • 9

    2.2. Critical Task Identification

    • Step 1: Critical Task ID and Prioritisation (8mins)
  • 10

    2.3. Task Analysis

    • Step 2: Task Analysis (10mins)

    • Exercise 3: HTA

    • HTA demo (7mins)
  • 11

    Bonus: Safety Moment

    • The Power of Moments

    • Safety Moment: Work-as-imagined vs Work-as-done
  • 12

    2.4. & 2.5. Human Factors Risk Assessment

    • Step 3 and 4: Failure and PIF Analysis (9mins)

    • Step 5: Improvements (6mins)

    • Exercise 4: Failure and PIF Analysis of Maintaining Nitrogen Backup Supply

    • Human Reliability demo (12mins)
  • 13

    Reflecting on Part 2

    • Reflecting on Part 2
  • 14

    2.6. Design, Procedures and Competence Management

    • Step 6: Outputs and Impact (21mins)

    • Exercise 5: Critiquing Procedures

    • Outputs demo (5mins)
  • 15

    Course Downloads

    • Congratulations! Complete and download your digital workbook

    • Course slides bundle
  • 16

    Course Evaluation & Review

    • Course Evaluation & Review

    • Unlock your Course Completion Certificate
  • 17

    Course Completion

    • Course Completion Certificate

    • Thanks!

What are our clients saying?

5 star rating

A must do course for every leader to understand Human Fac...

Sanjiv Kapur

This is a must do course for all frontline people, their supervisors/ managers and senior management leaders to really know about Human Factors- what is impo...

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This is a must do course for all frontline people, their supervisors/ managers and senior management leaders to really know about Human Factors- what is important, why is it important for them and how to make it possible. Human Reliability Associates has a great team of experts who can help, guide and train all such organizations, stakeholders, teams and people to evolve and grow. One of the best courses with lots of Aha moments. Thank you Team HRA.

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5 star rating

Really great course, with relevant examples. Recommended!

Eirik Eikehaugen

The use of good examples and the review of these in class groups was really a good way of learning.

The use of good examples and the review of these in class groups was really a good way of learning.

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4 star rating

Very interesting

Ole Lund

Recomend this course as an introduction/starting point to HF.

Recomend this course as an introduction/starting point to HF.

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5 star rating

Great course, really good info

Wayne Mullins

Loved how easily the information was communicate and how they broke it down for delivery

Loved how easily the information was communicate and how they broke it down for delivery

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5 star rating

Useful contents and exercises

Norafneeza Norazahar

Like the course, because it helps me understand better than reading from journals or articles. Yes, will recommend the course to others, i.e. lecturers, post...

Read More

Like the course, because it helps me understand better than reading from journals or articles. Yes, will recommend the course to others, i.e. lecturers, postgraduate students

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5 star rating

Thoughts for the future

Sarah Jones

Very engaging and lots of resources, very useful discussions and being able to take away a digital workbook is very useful for the future!

Very engaging and lots of resources, very useful discussions and being able to take away a digital workbook is very useful for the future!

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Instructors

Senior Human Factors Consultant

Dominic Furniss

Dr Dominic Furniss holds degrees in Human-Computer Interaction and Human Factors (MSc, PhD) from University College London (UCL). He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF). His particular areas of interest include user research, usability engineering, sociotechnical system design, and Safety-II.

Senior Human Factors Consultant

Jamie Henderson

Holds a degree in Psychology from the University of Liverpool and a Masters degree in Ergonomics from Loughborough University. He is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF). He has worked as a Human Factors consultant for over 20 years. Much of his work has been in the process industries, undertaking projects for companies such as BP, National Grid, ConocoPhillips, Borealis, Huntsman and Acetate Products. This work has given him considerable experience in the development of qualitative human reliability assessments for safety cases, and in the related areas of procedures and training.