Human Factors in Safety

  • 14 hour course, no prerequisites

Human Fac­tors is the aspect of safe­ty that deals with the inter­ac­tion between work­ers and their work envi­ron­ment, equip­ment pro­ce­dures. This pro­gram will guide you through the 7 ele­ments of human fac­tors and show how it can be applied in any work place to pre­vent injuries and inci­dents. You will come away from this pro­gram with an under­stand­ing of how human error can be the result of equip­ment design infor­ma­tion trans­fer, phys­i­o­log­i­cal and psy­cho­log­i­cal fac­tors. The lec­ture, case stud­ies and dis­cus­sions will pro­vide you with the tools and tech­niques need­ed to apply these inci­dent pre­ven­tion meth­ods in your work place.

Course at a glance
  • In-class, face-to-face delivery with web-enhanced instructional support available through eClass, the University of Alberta’s eLearning management tool.
  • Learn the science behind our understanding of the human factors spectrum and explore practical approaches for addressing related issues in your workplace.
  • Case studies and real-life examples are provided for addressing scenarios ranging from simple fixes through to a complete redesign.
  • Aimed at safety professionals trying to reduce risk and human errors, supervisors managing people and equipment in the workplace, and engineers looking for a practical understanding of why workers do what they do and how engineering designs can prevent error.
What you will learn

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Describe the Human Factors model.
  • Describe the interaction between people, management systems, and equipment/conditions.
  • Describe the seven elements of the Human Factors Spectrum (workplace design, equipment design, work environment, job design, information transfer, physical activities, and personal factors).
  • Determine where Human Factors fits in a safety management system.
  • Understand why people make errors.
  • Understand why people make mistakes when using procedures.
  • Understand the psychology that impacts how people interact with their work environment.
  • Demonstrate how workplace setup and design can impact safety.
  • Assess equipment and procedures for Human Factors traps that can cause incidents.
  • Use Human Factors tools to assess workplace.
  • Apply the Elements of the Human Factors Spectrum to any workplace.
  • Assess a workplace to proactively identify Human Factors issues.
  • Select the appropriate Human Factors tools for your company’s safety program.
  • Develop initial action plans to apply Human Factors in your workplace.
  • Identify additional resources for more in-depth Human Factors issues.
Take note:

  • Reading materials: handouts and workbook to be provided in class; digital resources available through eClass.
This course has no prerequisites

Students from all educational backgrounds welcome. You can register for this course without applying and enrolling in a program.

Email

extnreg@ualberta.ca

Looking for different course dates?

New course schedules are released each June and November.

Course Not Offered This Term

This course is not currently scheduled, but may be offered in an upcoming term.

New course schedules are announced each June and November.

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Interested in future offerings of this course? We can let you know when this course becomes available.