2026 Human Factors in Healthcare: Designing Safe Systems

Why do the course

If you are motivated to improve the safety and quality of care for patients and the quality of working life for staff, this course will systematically introduce you to the knowledge and skills of the Human Factors discipline.

Human Factors is a science that applies knowledge of human physical, cognitive and social abilities to design safe systems of care. In clinical settings this includes the safe design of technologies such as electronic prescribing software, electronic medical records, robotic surgery and AI. The sociotechnical perspective of Human Factors ensures that the technical elements are well designed and suited for use, and the social aspects of clinical work, such as communication and teamwork are optimised.

Because of this dual focus, Human Factors is ideally suited to understanding how to improve the complex, dynamic systems of healthcare today.

The aims of the course are to introduce the skills and methods used by human factors practitioners. Participants will learn how human factors can be applied to common healthcare problems such as medication safety, teamwork and leadership, and device safety through video lectures, readings and self-directed learning. There is a course forum where participants can interact with others and discuss challenges in practice.

Objectives

• Explain human factors principles and approaches to healthcare quality and safety.
• Explain the key features of effective teamwork.
• Understand human factors problems involved in medication safety.
• Identify safety risks of medical devices and the role of design and usability in reducing risks.
• Explain the limitations of learning from incident reporting and understand alternative approaches.
• Explain how Human Factors professionals can help to understand and improve staff physical and mental safety.
• Understand the Human Factors challenges involved in everyday care and actions for implementing Human Factors principles in the workplace.

Course Dates

• April Course: 23 March – Friday 8 May 2026
• August Course: 17 August – 2 October 2026

Information

• Seven week course and seven course modules (one released each week).
• Allows for flexibility in work patterns – once a module is released weekly, lectures and reading material can be viewed at own pace and at any time.
• Online only, no on-campus attendance required.
• Each course module consists of a reading package, journal articles, short videos, podcasts and knowledge check sections or a combination.
• No assessments (nor minimum pass mark).
• All participants have extra one month to access the course modules.
• You can download the Certificate of Completion at the end of the course if you have accessed and completed all the course modules and the final course survey.

Time Commitment:

4 - 6 hours per week (on average)

Eligibility

Anyone who is interested in patient safety, quality improvement and Human Factors can register for this course. Specifically, the course is aimed at:

• Physicians
• Nurses
• Pharmacists
• Allied health practitioners
• Health service managers
• Quality and Safety managers
• Researchers

Course Structure

Seven course modules will be offered in this course which are released on a weekly basis.

There are no assessments for this short course.

• Module 1: Introduction to Human Factors in Healthcare
• Module 2: Teams, leadership and communication
• Module 3: Medication Safety
• Module 4: Devices and Technology
• Module 5: Incident reporting and learning from the error
• Module 6: Staff safety
• Module 7: Case study

Please Note: Course modules may be subject to change.
Last Updated: Nov 2025

Our Team

Prof Janet Anderson

Course Director

Janet Anderson is Professor of Human Factors in the Department of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at Monash University, an honorary professor at the University of Stavanger, Norway. She has held academic positions at University of Surrey (2004-2008), King’s College London (2008-2020), and City, University of London (2020-2021). She is a long-standing member of the UK Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors and was the leader of the Healthcare Special Interest Group in 2013-16. The aim of her research is to improve the quality and safety of care using Human Factors theories and frameworks. She is an expert in resilient healthcare systems, organisations and teams and has pioneered the development of theories, methods and guidance in this area.

Dr Raphaela Schnittker

Adjunct Lecturer

Raphaela Schnittker currently works at Safer Care Victoria (Victoria, Australia) as a Human Factors Specialist. She is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Monash University. Raphaela holds a PhD in Human Factors from Monash University as well as a Masters degree in Human Factors Psychology and a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Twente (Enschede, the Netherlands). Raphaela has worked in applying Human Factors science to healthcare settings for the last ten years, both in Academia and government.