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Human and organisational factors

Much of the petroleum and allied industries' improved safety performance over the last twenty years has been achieved by enhanced engineering design and equipment, and latterly through safety management systems. However, there is less scope for further improvement in those areas as safety performance is reaching a plateau.

Human factors (what is human factors?) is attracting increasing interest as it offers the possibility for delivering the next step change in improved safety performance. Many of the key human factors issues are of particular relevance to petroleum and allied industry operations.

EI HOF Blog

The Energy Institute human and organisational factors blog - a space for human factors and Hearts and Minds shared learning

www.eihofblog.wordpress.com 

Human and Organisational Factors Committee (HOFCOM)

The Energy Institute's Human and Organisational Factors Committee was established in 2001 by the Safety Management Group as the UK focal point for human and organisational factors affecting the energy and allied industries. The committee aims to help industry to understand and apply human and organisational factors to its operations by: engaging the industry and its stakeholders; supporting the industry by commissioning studies, providing information and sharing knowledge. Whilst several kindred organisations are actively working in this area in the UK, Europe and globally, the  committee offers a unique forum for all sectors of the industry and its stakeholders.

For a more in-depth introduction to human factors and the EI's work in this area, see the Energy World magazine article, Driving down incidents, published in May 2010. 

If you would like more information on the EI's Human and Organisational Factors Committee, or are an employee of one of the EI's Technical Partner companies and are interested in becoming a member of the group, please contact Stuart King e: sking@energyinst.org

Training

Delivering safety culture change using the Hearts and Minds toolkit 

Basic Human Factors Awareness 

Human Factors Incident & Accident Investigation and Analysis
 

Resources - guidance and practical tools 

The committee's strategy is focused on producing resources of use to the industry.  Pertinent project resources are listed in the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the page, or click here to see full project listings

Recently completed projects:  

Quantified human reliability analysis (QHRA)
EI Guidance on quantified human reliability analysis (QHRA) focuses primarily on techniques that provide support for quantification. It aims to reduce the instances of poorly conceived or executed analyses by equipping organisations that plan to undertake, or commission, human reliability assessments with an overview of important practical considerations.

Human factors awareness: web-based training course
This free to access web-based course aims to build awareness of human and organisational factors issues amongst those working in industry and who are responsible for people and/or safety, including senior managers, managers, supervisors, and operators.  Spanning 11 modules covering the HSE key topics, it introduces pertinent human factors issues, provides case studies, common problems and solutions.  It also tests users' learning with a series of short assessment questions.

Human factors briefing notes - second edition
To improve industry's understanding of key human factors issues, the EI has produced the Human factors briefing notes resource pack. The briefing notes provide a definition and introduction to pertinent human factors issues, a checklist to gauge whether your company has a problem with that issue, case studies, guidance for managers and further reading lists. 

Top ten human factors issues - updated for 2011
The Top ten webpages support the HSE's human factors key topics.  The webpages provide listings of relevant introductory resources, practical tools and advanced resources for the ten most pertinent human factors issues facing industry.

The Hearts and Minds programme

The Hearts and Minds programme was developed by Shell and is based on research with leading universities. The programme uses a range of tools and techniques to help the organisation involve all staff in managing SHE as an integral part of their business. A state-of-the-art Toolkit is now available to those outside the Shell Group, thanks to a publishing agreement between the Energy Institute and Shell.

Tripod - incident and accident investigation methodologyTripod Foundation logo

Tripod is a theory for understanding the human factors aspects of incidents and accidents. It was developed to explain how and why incidents happen, and allow the root organisational causes and deficiencies to be uncovered and addressed.

There are two main Tripod tools:

  • Tripod Beta – an accident/incident investigation methodology
  • Tripod Delta – a proactive analysis tool to help prevent future incidents

Visit www.tripodfoundation.com to find out about Tripod and Tripod accreditation.

 

Human factors consultants listed on Member Consultant database

One benefit of EI membership is registration of capabilities on the EI Member Consultant list. This facility has been extended to include the categories 'human factors', 'human reliability' and 'ergonomics', so that consultants offering a service to the energy industry can be readily identified.

The Member Consultant list is maintained by the EI Library and Information Service who should be contacted by those wishing to register their capabilities.


Special Interest Groups