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It is estimated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that 80% of accidents may be attributed to the actions or omissions of individuals.
We have seen a growing use of human factor expert evidence in regulatory investigations and prosecutions, which can assist in explaining why incidents occur. Humans are not infallible. As such, organisations should give due consideration to ‘human factors’ when designing systems of work, along with appropriate control measures, including any artificial intelligence that may assist in identifying particular issues such as fatigue or inattentiveness of their workers
Human factors expert evidence
Human factors experts are increasingly being instructed in relation to workplace incidents. Such experts study the effects of an individual's mental, perceptual and physical capabilities and limitations in consideration of their interactions with systems of work in being able to perceive, as well as avoid, risk.
On a given day one worker may be more attentive or feeling more physically well than another, these biological and psychological factors can affect health and safety in the workplace.
The HSE has produced guidance, ‘HSG48 Reducing error and influencing human behaviour’, which is designed to encourage and enable employers to consider human factors as a potential risk when undertaking risk assessments of workplace tasks and considering appropriate control measures.
By way of example, considerations as to a particular workplace task may be:
- Shift patterns/night work
- Length and frequency of breaks
- Workload
- Physical and mental demands due to the design of the task
- Repetitive nature of the task
- Equipment (is it clearly labelled/colour coded?)
- Environment (is it noisy/quiet?)
These are examples of factors organisations may wish to consider in a risk assessment.
The HSE has employed designated human factors specialists who can be instructed following an incident to consider whether something other than human error was in play. For example, they may question whether the perceived human error is due to an organisational issue rather than a mistake by the individual themselves. To this end, consideration will be given to whether an organisation has taken into account the potential of human error and behaviour when risk assessing and designing their systems of work by introducing appropriate control measures.
Examples
In two recent matters on which Kennedys were instructed, human factor specialists from the HSE produced reports as part of their investigations to consider whether the organisations’ systems affected the attentiveness of individual workers:
- A swimmer was not seen underwater for over six minutes by a trained lifeguard who was supported by underwater footage which was displayed on a monitor alongside them and another lifeguard. The HSE human factors expert concluded that the primary lifeguard had suffered from cognitive overload. This is due to the ability of the short term memory only to hold a limited amount of information at any one time when scanning the pool and due to humans having a form of selective attention to their surrounding environment. No action was taken by the HSE as the organisation’s procedures and processes accorded with recognised guidance at the time.
- A slinger sadly sustained fatal injuries when a piece of steel snagged on an item causing an overload of the sling attached to a crane. Appropriate training and procedures were in place for the procedure. The HSE human factors expert considered whether fatigue was an issue given the working hours of the slinger, who worked night shifts. Consideration was given to shift patterns, the number and length of breaks, the travel time between work and home, along with rest periods between the night shifts. Nothing conclusive was found to indicate that fatigue was an issue.
In both of these examples, potential human factors issues were closely explored by the HSE, seeking to link organisational management, systems and procedures with the incidents in question. If considered relevant and culpable, the HSE could have taken action via enforcement notice or indeed prosecution, but on these occasions the human factors specialists were not able to demonstrate that our employer clients were at fault.
United Kingdom