When you read of an accident in the press and it’s reported that it was due to ‘human error’, do you ever ask yourself what prompted that behaviour? Why didn’t the people involved see what was obvious? Why weren’t they more careful? Why didn’t they follow the rules? In most cases, the answer is that they are human, like the rest of us, and they responded to the situation as they saw it. When a serious accident occurs, there are usually several factors which caused the people at ‘the coal face’ to act in the way they did. In this interactive workshop, we will investigate a high-profile incident to discover how communication failures contributed to the accident, how business practices influenced decision making and what the on-going press releases suggest about the business culture and awareness of the human element of safety.

Time

18:00 start.

Presenter

Lorraine Braben

Lorraine is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, qualified HR practitioner and independent Human Factors Consultant. Having worked at an upper tier COMAH site for many years in many different roles, she has experienced the results of engineering design and business practices which can unwittingly influence behaviour and impact on safe operation of plant and equipment. She has learnt how decisions made with the best of intentions may not always deliver the results expected and how understanding the human element of safety can improve engineering design, risk management and plant operation.

Having set up her own consultancy business, Lorraine now offers support to clients in the assessment, delivery and training of human factor related topics. Lorraine is a Technical Member of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF), reflecting the range of projects that she has delivered around the Human Factors subject areas.