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Organisational and human factors

Industrial performance and safety

People as the strong link

In a world of increasingly complex industrial systems, safety can no longer be envisaged without a thorough understanding of the central role played by human beings and organisational dynamics.

At Human design Group, with decades of experience as a leader in the demanding’aeronautics, the’energy, the defence and health, We have developed unrivalled expertise in the integration of Human and Organisational Factors in Safety (HOSF). Our approach aims to identify and put in place the conditions that encourage operators and teams to make a positive contribution to industrial safety.

Safe, resilient systems thanks to people

Historically, risk management was based mainly on technical design and safety management systems (SMS). While these approaches have led to undeniable progress, their results are now reaching a plateau. Strengthening formalisms alone is no longer enough to reduce failures.

The traditional approach sometimes focuses on the operator behaviour, human error and compliance with procedures, neglecting the man's positive contribution and limiting understanding of the deeper causes. To go beyond this level and achieve a higher level of safety, it is essential to take better account of the complexity of human activity and organisational dynamics.

There are two complementary components to safety:

  • Safety set It anticipates and prevents all foreseeable failures through formalisms, rules, automation and training in safe behaviour.
  • Managed safety :  It corresponds to the ability to anticipate, perceive and respond to unforeseen failures in the organisation. It is based on’human expertise, the quality of initiatives, the how groups work and organisations, as well as management that is attentive to the reality of situations.

Our expertise enables us to develop this «Managed security», by promoting its compatibility with the « security set »within a integrated safety culture.

The human factor as an agent of reliability

Contrary to a simplistic view, the human being is first and foremost a human being. an agent of reliability, not unreliability.

  • Beyond Human Error«Human error» is often a consequence of characteristics of the situation that have not enabled operators to mobilise their skills in a relevant way. Our approach seeks to understand the context of the error rather than to punish it, because an error is by definition involuntary and punishing it can be counterproductive for collective safety.
  • From Behaviour to ActivityWe go beyond simple "observable behaviour" to understand the complex activity of people, which mobilises body and intelligence to achieve goals. This activity integrates non-visible dimensions such as perceptions, emotions, memory, reasoning and decision-making. Operators are never content simply to carry out procedures; they are constantly adapting to the variability of situations.
  • Recognition of the individualHuman beings are diverse (gender, size, laterality, vision, ageing) and their condition varies (daily rhythms, fatigue). System design needs to take this into account. Experienced people, for example, manage their cognitive resources better and anticipate more. Recognition of their contribution and their ability to adapt is essential for their motivation and mental health, which are directly linked to safety.
What can you expect from us?

Our approach

Our approach is based on an in-depth understanding of three interconnected pillars.

Excellence: An integrated safety culture

  • All the practices developed and repeated by management and operational employees aims to control risks.
  • This culture must high status in the company's values and priorities.
  • La coordination actors develops a culture where management is in synergy with practices, where incident analysis feeds continuous improvement, and where responsibilities are shared.

The crucial role of work collectives

  • Collectives are essential places for detecting and recovering from an abnormal situation or an error.
  • They make it easier for people to help each other, find solutions to unexpected problems and pass on information. professional knowledge.
  • A functional collective makes a positive contribution to the health and safety of its members.

Organisation as a safety factor

  • The organisation is a complex system of structure, interactions and cultures.
  • Le management plays a major role by defining the framework and making the day-to-day adjustments between the formal rules and the reality on the ground.
  • An organisation must linking formal rules with knowledge of actual operating situations (supported by operators and collectives).

Engineering the subjective

To meet the challenges of ultra-safe and complex systems, where accidents are rare but potentially serious, data from the past (REX) is often insufficient to predict the future. That's why we are integrating’subjective engineering into our processes.

  • This approach makes it possible to elicit and formalise the knowledge and risk perceptions of experienced agents and decision-makers, transforming this subjective information into usable scientific data.
  • It helps us to understand the divergent views of the players involved, thereby avoiding "false agreements" and incorrect estimates of risk levels.
  • By combining engineering sciences, economics, psychology and sociology, we facilitate cognitive coordination and the construction of a collective sense of system safety.
  • This approach makes it possible to reduce the gap between theoretical visions and the way systems actually work, to make people feel less guilty about the "non-achievement of zero risk" by recognising the inherent uncertainty, and to strengthen the legitimacy and traceability of decisions.

Proactive resilience

At Human design Group, the integration of Organisational and Human Factors is not just an additional heading. : from technical design to human resources management, including purchasing and labour relations, ne commit to :

Encouraging feedback from the field to management and the discussion of practices.

Identify the role of each player, from operators to managers, in the production of safety.

Maintaining organisational flexibility to deal with the unexpected.

Training and coaching Regulate teams in simulated situations.

Consulting

When you're good, you're better

Transforming working conditions

Get in touch with us!

Our experts will help you to analyse your facilities and their perimeter in order to develop an appropriate safety and Human Factors integration policy.

    Over 40 years' experience

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