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Podcast: Engineering Matters
Episode: #317 Human Factors, Human Error, and Safety by Design
Description: When we search for causes of accidents, we often assume a binary: either mechanical failure, or human error, were to blame, and we must pick between them. But labelling an accident as caused by human error doesn’t teach us anything. It makes no effort to understand what caused people to make the decisions they did. From aviation and healthcare to energy and defense, understanding how people interact with complex systems is key to improving safety, efficiency, and decision-making.
At the most recent annual Thomas Hawksley lecture, organised by The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Professor Sarah Sharples, th...