Introduction to Human Factors – Individual, Job and Organisational Factors

The performance of people at work is influenced by individual, job and organisational factors.

These are factors that can make it more likely that workers will make unintentional errors or not follow procedures (i.e. non-compliances). When these factors are not considered, they can make the job harder, encouraging workers to make deliberate adaptations to how the job is supposed to be done in order to get the job done quicker or more easily. They can be divided into individual factors (who is carrying out the job), job factors (how the job is designed and carried out) and organisational factors (how the job is supported by the broader organisation).

Human Factors interventions must consider all three interrelated aspects rather than looking at any in isolation. Understanding these contextual factors which drive behaviour helps identify underlying weaknesses in the system of work and opportunities to improve it. A system of work is the organised way in which tasks and activities are planned, managed, and carried out within a workplace, involving the interaction between people, processes and plant to ensure efficiency, safety, and effectiveness.

Individual Factors

People vary in many ways. These differences include physical differences in body shape, size and strength and sensory differences in vision and hearing. People differ in personality, knowledge and experience. They bring individual attitudes, skills, habits, and perceptions of risk to their job and these can all influence their health and safety behaviour in significant and complex ways. For example:

• Visual capability can vary widely with respect to visual acuity and colour vision e.g. Workers who are colour-blind might struggle with identification of hazards where colour coding is used;
• Fatigue can affect individuals in different ways and result in a decline in physical or mental performance e.g. slower response times to alarms.

Job Factors

Job factors tend to include physical aspects of the workplace environment such as the design of equipment, the design of procedures, lighting, noise, vibration and heat. Matching the job to the person, considering their strengths and limitations, helps prevent both physical and mental overload. For example:

• Controls and displays should always be designed with the end user in mind. Typical problems include control panel layouts which are difficult to understand or critical displays which are not in the operator’s normal field of view;
• Procedures should be designed so that they support operatives to work safely. If procedures are out of date, lengthy or poorly written, workers may be less likely to follow them or skip important procedural steps.

Organisational Factors

Organisational factors that influence performance at work include safety culture, leadership and safety critical communications (i.e. verbal and written communications critical to maintaining safety). Organisational factors have the greatest influence on individual and group behaviour, yet they are often overlooked during the design of work and during investigation of accidents and incidents. For example:

• A positive safety culture is dependent on visible senior management commitment to safety and consistent messages that safety is a priority demonstrated in management decisions and actions. The prioritisation of production over safety by management has significantly contributed to many major accidents (e.g. BP Texas City refinery disaster, 2005).
• Verbal and written communication can be critical in maintaining safety. Quality of information and timing are key principles in safety critical communication. When critical information is missing on a shift handover or the timing of communication does not meet the needs of workers, workers may take on tasks without understanding how they might impact their safety and/or be compromised in how they prepare for that task.