Beyond the Surface:
Understanding and
Managing Human Error
for Workplace Safety

Regardless of industry type or sector, accident statistics appear to be dominated by the contribution of human error. This is hardly surprising since humans are involved in the design, construction, maintenance, operation and management of complex socio-technical systems across any safety critical industry such as transport, mining, construction, oil and gas, power and water utilities, essential and emergency services and healthcare service delivery.

While human error is a normal part of our human makeup, the consequences of errors in any industry can be disastrous and the subject of public outrage, exhaustive inquiries and drawn out legal action. The cost of human error in the workplace is also considerable:

• BP estimated that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in costs that exceeded USD $40 billion.
• According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), airports have estimated that ramp accidents cost over USD $10 billion each year.
• The Flight Safety Foundation reports that over 38,000 commercial aircraft land in an unstable condition every year, causing potential maintenance and inspection delays.
• In healthcare the direct medical costs of preventable clinical incidents arising from human error, have been estimated at $2 billion each year in Australia.

This Fundamentals of Human Factors and Error Management for Safety Critical Industries program will provide participants with a good understanding of the key factors that influence human error and practical strategies for making systems more error tolerant.