The human factors of medication safety: Wings fall off

Abstract

The science of Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE) has transformed safety in a wide variety of high-risk industries from nuclear power to aviation to oil and gas, and – whisper it – is even starting to make progress in healthcare. There's still some way to go, but the journey has at least started. Procedures like the WHO surgical safety checklist have become normalised. Speaking up is now encouraged, and no-blame culture is slowly taking root. Adverse incidents are increasingly investigated with system-based approaches and HFE practitioners are being embedded in health organisations and equipment manufacturers. But despite these promising developments, there is one area of practice which has so far resisted the onward march of Human Factors: parenteral drug therapy. A revolution in attitude is long overdue.