About this event
In this webinar, the third in our series of collaborative events between the CIEHF and the Israel Human Factors and Ergonomics Association (IHFEA), this time with the additional collaboration with the Irish Human Factors & Ergonomics Society, we get insight into the breadth, understanding and integration of human factors in the healthcare systems of three countries: Israel, Ireland and Scotland and the UK more genarally.
Dr Paul O'Connor gives an overview of the extent to which human factors has penetrated the Irish healthcare system, the challenges to the greater integration of human factors and the future opportunities.
Dr Joan Geiger talks about 'Ergonomics by the Book: Regulations and Practice'. While we all know how beneficial ergonomics can be in the workplace, in medical institutions and elsewhere, we also know there's often a gap between ergonomics principles and workplace implementation. We’ll look at the regulatory aspects of healthcare ergonomics in Israel – including some inheritance from pre-1948 Britain! And the steps taken to put those principles into practice in today’s workplace, particularly the healthcare work setting.
Who will this be of interest to?
This webinar is for anyone with an interest in human factors in healthcare.
About the presenters
Dr Nick Woodier (Chair) is a Chartered Human Factors and Ergonomics Specialist with a Master’s Degree in Ergonomics. He’s a national safety investigator with the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch, having moved into safety investigation from clinical medicine. Nick is nearing completion of a PhD considering near misses in healthcare. He is also an Honorary Assistant Professor with the University of Nottingham for his work in patient safety.
Dr Joan Geiger is an ergonomist and physical therapist, who believes in using ergonomics to prevent the causes of discomfort and injury. In her practice, she focuses on providing worksite solutions to ergonomic issues, and making ergonomics accessible to all. She teaches ergonomics in nursing, physical therapy and public health curricula at the University of Haifa and at Zfat College. She's active in the Israel Human Factors and Ergonomics Association (Chair, 2019-2022), the National Advisory Council on Worker Health and the Ergonomics Committee of the Standards Institute of Israel.
Dr Paul O'Connor is a human factors psychologist and Senior Lecturer in Primary Care at the University of Galway, Ireland. His research, and teaching, are concerned with improving human performance and safety in high-risk work environments. He's carried out research in a wide range of high risk industries such as civil aviation, offshore oil production, and in the military in naval aviation and special forces. In recent years his research and teaching has focused on the human factors that contribute to patient safety and quality of care. He's received more than €6m in funding as a Principal/Co-Principal investigator, and authored more than 170 publications.
Professor Paul Bowie is Programme Director (Safety and Improvement) and Senior Investigation Science Educator at NHS Education for Scotland and Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB). Paul is a safety scientist, medical educator and Chartered Ergonomist & Human Factors Specialist with around 30 years of experience leading and collaborating in research, innovation and educational development to improve the quality and safety of healthcare in the UK and internationally. He's also provided expert risk and safety consultancy to medical defence, independent investigation, commercial healthcare, aviation and military organisations.
Dr Cora McCaughan leads the Healthcare Audit Unit in the Health Service Executive (HSE) which provides health services to the 5 million people in the Republic of Ireland. She has a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy and an MSc (Hons) in Occupational Health and Ergonomics. Her roles have included training in safe moving and handling in the NHS, setting up human factors programmes as a development worker in Swaziland, working as a Healthcare Risk Manager in Ireland and leading the HSE’s National Incident Management and Learning Team. Cora was awarded a PhD from Trinity College Dublin in 2020 for her research into leveraging incident investigations to better inform system safety. She's a founding member of the Irish Safety in Health Systems group, a visiting research fellow at the Centre for Innovative Human Systems at Trinity College Dublin, a committee member of the Irish Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and a guest lecturer at Technical University Dublin, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.