The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant accident prompted the idea of Normal Accident Theory. This theory holds that as systems become complex, accidents become inevitable or normal (St. Pierre, et al., 2008). The susceptibility to accidents in these complex organizations is determined by the dimensions of interactive complexity and coupling (St. Pierre, et al., 2008). An accident is defined as “an incident in which non-trivial loss occurs” (Cooke & Rohleder, 2006, p. 214). An incident is an unexpected or unwanted change in process that has the potential to cause a loss (Cooke & Rohleder, 2006). An accident is classified as a disaster when loss of life or extensive property damage or money loss occurs (Cooke & Rohleder, 2006)….. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for September, 2010|Monthly archive page
Driving
In Human Factors, Interuptions, Multitasking, Patient Safety on September 1, 2010 at 2:15 pmToday I was driving my usual route on a 3 lane parkway near my home. I have a routine of driving in the left lane until I see the traffic light, at which point I begin my transfer into the far right lane for a right turn that I take in two more lights.
Today a young girl in a red car came from the middle lane and cut in front of me very close. A couple of seconds later she moved back into the middle then into the far right. No sooner did she get into the far right, she moved back into the middle. After the red light, she surged forward and cut back into the right ahead of the three cars that were stopped at the light. From that point on she was out of my sight…. Read the rest of this entry »
Human Factors Theory Part Two
In Human Factors, Patient Safety on September 1, 2010 at 11:12 amHuman factors research has also highlighted the importance of situational awareness which is: the perception of elements in the environment, an assessment of their meaning, and a projection as to how the situation might progress (Salmon, et al., 2008). This concept involves attention to the patient in terms of what is happening, what is the meaning of the symptoms or events and predicting how might the situation turn out so interventions can be made to intervene or maintain the current state (St. Pierre, et al., 2008). Features in the environment are mapped to mental models which are developed through training and experience (Salmon, et al., 2008) and thus situational awareness is an interaction between the person and the environment…. Read the rest of this entry »
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