Centre for Human Factors and Sociotechnical Systems

Workplace injuries and fatalities remain a significant social and economic burden. Recent figures show that well over 600,000 workers are injured per year in Australian workplaces (Safe Work Australia, 2012). The priority areas of research for the Organisational Safety Theme focus on the application of systems thinking theory to reduce occupational accidents. They are:

1. Application of systems-based methods to generate new insights into workplace safety problems and solutions for injury-prevention;
2. Translation of systems-based methods into practical tools for workplace safety practitioners; and
3. Development of new methods, underpinned by systems theory, to understand workplace safety problems.

Current research projects cover a range of organisational safety issues, including incident reporting and accident analysis, worker musculoskeletal disorders, and accident investigation processes and outcomes. These projects cover a broad range of workplaces, including healthcare, mining, outdoor education, air freight and road freight transportation.

Current Projects

• QLD Health Bridge Labs Project
• UPLOADS
• Incident reporting and accident investigation systems
• Worker musculoskeletal disorders
• Accident and injury countermeasure development

Key researchers

• Professor Paul Salmon

Theme PhD students

• Erin Stevens

Recent publications

Paul M. Salmon, Adam Hulme, Guy H. Walker, Patrick Waterson & Neville A. Stanton. Towards a unified model of accident causation: refining and validating the systems thinking safety tenets. Ergonomics. DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2022.2107709

McCormack. P, Read,G. Hulme.A, Lane.B, McLean.S, Salmon.P. Using systems thinking-based risk assessment methods to assess hazardous manual tasks: a comparison of Net-HARMS, EAST-BL, FRAM and STPA. Ergonomics.

Stevens,E. Hulme,A. Goode,N. Coventon,L. Read,G. Salmon,P. Understanding complexity in a safety critical setting: A systems approach to medication administration. Applied Ergonomics.

Dallat,C. Salmon,P. Goode,N. Testing the validity of the Networked Hazard Analysis and Risk Management System (Net‐HARMS). Human Factors and Ergonomics in Manufacturing and Service Industries.

Salmon, P. M., & Walker, G. H. (2023). Festschrift in Honour of Professor Neville Stanton. Applied Ergonomics.

Salmon, P. King, B . Hulme, A .Chari S. McCormack L. Tresillian M ,Bennett K ,Read G. Toward the translation of systems thinking methods in patient safety practice: Assessing the validity of Net-HARMS and AcciMap. Safety Science.

Salmon. P, Coventon. L, Read. G. A systems analysis of work-related violence in hospitals: Stakeholders, contributory factors, and leverage points. Safety Science.

Salmon.P, Hulme.A, Walker.G, Waterson.P, Standon.N. Towards a unified model of accident causation: refining and validating the systems thinking safety tenets. Ergonomics.

McCormack.P, Read.G, Hulme,A, Lane.B, McLean.S, Salmon.P. Using systems thinking-based risk assessment methods to assess hazardous manual tasks: a comparison of Net-HARMS, EAST-BL, FRAM and STPA. Ergonomics

Austin, E., Blakely, B., Salmon, P. M., Braithwaite, J., Clay-Williams, R. Technology in the emergency department: Using cognitive work analysis to model and design sustainable systems.  Safety Science,Volume 147, March 2022, 105613.

McLean, S., Coventon, L. Finch, C., Dallat., C., Carden, T., Salmon, P. M. Evaluation of a systems ergonomics-based incident reporting system Applied Ergonomics. Volume 100, April 2022, 103651.

King, B., Read, G. J. M., Salmon, P. M. Clear and present danger? Applying ecological interface design to develop an aviation risk management interface. Applied Ergonomics, Volume 99, February 2022, 103643. 

Salmon, P. M., Naughton, M., Hulme, A., McLean, S. Bicycle crash contributory factors: a systematic review. Safety Science, Volume 145, January 2022, 105511 

M.Sujan. R,Pool. P, Salmon. Eight human factors and ergonomics principles for healthcare artificial intelligence. BMJ Health and Care Informatics. doi:10.1136/bmjhci-2021-100516.

Austin, E. Blakely, B. Salmon, P. Braithwaite, J. Clay-Williams R. Technology in the emergency department: Using cognitive work analysis to model and design sustainable systems. Safety Science.

Austin.E, Blakely,B. Salmon, P. Braithwaite,J. Clay-Williams, R. (2021) The scope for adaptive capacity in Emergency Departments: Modelling performance constraints using Control Task Analysis and Social Organisational Cooperation Analysis. Ergonomics

Newnam, S., Goode, N., Read, G. J. R., Salmon, P. M. (2021). Systems-thinking in action: Results from implementation and evaluation of the Patient Handling Injuries Review of Systems Toolkit. Safety Science, 134, 105086 

McCormack, P., Read, G. J. M., Goode, N., Salmon, P. M. (2021). Do hazardous manual handling task risk assessment methods align with systems thinking? Safety Science

Stevens, E. Hulme, A. Salmon, P. (2021) The impact of power on health care team performance and patient safety: a review of the literature. Ergonomics

Austin, E., Blakely, B., Salmon, P., Braithwaite, J., & Clay-Williams, R. (2021). Identifying Constraints on Everyday Clinical Practice: Applying Work Domain Analysis to Emergency Department Care. Human Factors. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018720821995668

For inquiries regarding the Organisational Safety theme please contact Dr Adam Hulme ahulme@usc.edu.au