Why do accidents happen?

If we define anything that goes wrong at work which results in some kind of harm as an accident, then it is possible that many things could contribute to their cause. It is often easy to blame the individual who was most directly involved.  However, this is too simplistic and a human factors approach makes it clear that there are often a number of factors which have contributed to the accident.  These can include poor design, poor maintenance, attitudes to health & safety in the organisation, inadequate training or supervision, poor work planning and organisation.

So what do we mean by human factors / ergonomics?

Essentially human factors (also known as Ergonomics) is concerned with all those factors that can influence people and their behaviour. In a work context, HSE has defined human factors as the environmental, organisational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics which influence behaviour at work. Careful consideration of human factors can improve health and safety by reducing the number of accidents and cases of ill-health at work. It also provides considerable benefits for business by reducing the costs associated with such incidents and increasing efficiency.

There are two principal areas where HSE’s human factors/ergonomics effort is focused:

• preventing major accidents (major hazards) – this is the main focus for HF inspectors in HSE’s major hazard sectors;
• protecting personal health & safety (preventing personal injury/ill-health) – this is a major focus for HSE’s other HF inspectors.

The free leaflet Understanding ergonomics at work [PDF 363kb] (INDG90) provides a basic introduction to the subject. HSE’s priced publication Reducing error and influencing behaviour (HSG 48) HSE Books ISBN 0 7176 2452 8 provides more detail about a range of relevant topics.

These web pages will tell you:

• The main human factors topics HSE is concerned about
• What HSE is doing to tackle these issues
• How to get hold of more information

Who is this information for?

Much of the information on these web pages has been written to make it suitable for a wide audience. It should be of relevance whatever your industry and regardless of whether your main concern is in preventing major accidents or personal accidents and ill-health.  However, HSE’s human factors approach is better established for some industries (e.g. major hazards/COMAH) and some topics (e.g. MSD and Stress) so links are provided to specific web pages for these.

Few human factors issues are covered by specific regulations, but when published guidance exists you should always consult it when deciding how to meet the requirements of the law.