Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (CIEHF): White Paper: Learning from adverse events (24 June 2020)

Summary

The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors has issued today their White Paper on Adverse Events. This report states what good practice should be in incident investigation across all industries, including health and social care.

The White Paper is designed to:

1. Help organisations understand a human factors perspective to investigating and learning from adverse events.

2. Provide key principles organisations can apply to capture the human contribution to adverse events.

How organisations learn, and fail to learn, from adverse events is discussed.

Content

Practical guidance on the application of human factors in the investigation process is presented.

Nine principles for incorporating human factors into learning investigations are identified:

1. Be prepared to accept a broad range of types and standards of evidence.

2. Seek opportunities for learning beyond actual loss events.

3. Avoid searching for blame.

4. Adopt a systems approach.

5. Identify and understand both the situational and contextual factors associated with the event.

6. Recognise the potential for difference between the way work is imagined and the way work is actually done.

7. Accept that learning means changing.

8. Understand that learning will only be enduring if change is embedded in a culture of learning and continuous improvement.

9. Do not confuse recommendations with solutions.