Stories of safety podcast: Pascale Carayon (NIHR, November 2025)

Summary

Stories of Safety is a podcast that delves into the stories, science, and policy that have shaped health care safety. Hosted by patient safety researcher Professor Jane O’Hara, and funded and delivered by National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Yorkshire &; Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration (PSRC), this series brings together leading voices from the UK and beyond to explore a deceptively simple yet crucial question: How safe are we, and how can we improve?

In this episode we hear from Professor Pascale Carayon, Professor Emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, and a global leader in applying human factors and systems engineering to healthcare and patient safety. Professor Carayon reflects on the evolving role of human factors engineering, from her early development of the SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) model to its widespread influence on healthcare system design and quality improvement. 

They explore how engineering, human factors/ergonomics, and organisational design can be harnessed to prevent harm, redesign complex care systems, and foster safer, more resilient healthcare environments.