Why Accidents Happen: The Science of Human Factors (Zoom)
Winter (9 - 13.5 hours) | Available (Membership Required)
Accidents happen in healthcare and virtually every industry (as well as everyday life!). They seldom result from a single error. In most cases, there is a cascade of events, with human error superimposed on system factors that allow an incident to occur despite multiple defenses and barriers. The science of “human factors” describes how individuals think, act, and interact with other individuals, computers, and other complex systems.
This course is designed to help the layperson understand the complex nature of systems and the factors that contribute to both significant disasters and near-misses. We will analyze multiple serious incidents in healthcare; aviation, and other transportation; and the nuclear, space, construction, and chemical industries. The course will also highlight how we perform root cause analysis and the hierarchy of interventions we use to prevent or mitigate errors.
This course will include lecture and interactive discussion.
Study Leader will provide course materials online.
Bradley Truax
Dr. Truax is a physician board-certified in both internal medicine (Johns Hopkins Hospital) and neurology (Massachusetts General Hospital). In addition to clinical practice, he has been a hospital medical director at major public, private, and teaching hospitals. He’s been involved in patient safety for over thirty years and has analyzed hundreds of healthcare incidents. He writes a weekly column on patient safety for hospitals and healthcare workers, now in its seventeenth year.