85398 - Safety and Human Factors

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will be able to identify key theories in applied human factors and to illustrate assessment methods and tools.

Course contents

This teaching program offers an advanced theoretical and empirical perspective on the role of human factors across various workplaces and industries. The topics explored include:

1.Analysis and prevention of accidents

2.Safety Barriers

3.Human errors and performance in high-risk organizations

4.Assessment and training of non-technical skills

5.Situation awareness and decision making

6. Communication failures

7.Teamwork and leadership: implications for safety management

Each module is structured to include theoretical elements, tool presentations, and group activities designed around the topics discussed, offering a practical context to the learned concepts.

Readings/Bibliography

Dodoo, J. E., & Al-Samarraie, H. (2019). Factors leading to unsafe behavior in the twenty first century workplace: a review. Management Review Quarterly, 69(4), 391-414.

Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research: From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and risk. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 375.

Aburumman, M., Newnam, S., & Fildes, B. (2019). Evaluating the effectiveness of workplace interventions in improving safety culture: A systematic review. Safety science, 115, 376-392.

Larouzee, J., & Le Coze, J. C. (2020). Good and bad reasons: The Swiss cheese model and its critics. Safety science, 126, 104660.

HSE UK. Reducing errors and influencing behaviours. You can download a copy of the handbook here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg48.htm.

Hollnagel, E. (2008). Risk+ barriers= safety?. Safety science, 46(2), 221-229.

Guglielmi, D., Paolucci, A., Cozzani, V., Mariani, M. G., Pietrantoni, L., & Fraboni, F. (2022). Integrating human barriers in human reliability analysis: A new model for the energy sector. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(5), 2797.

De Angelis, M., Fraboni, F., Puchades, V. M., Prati, G., & Pietrantoni, L. (2020). Use of smartphone and crash risk among cyclists. Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, 12(1), 178-193.

Pietrantoni, L., San Román-Niaves, M., & De Angelis, M. (2024, September). Human Trust and Digital Twins in a Human Factors and Ergonomic Framework. In 2024 IEEE 29th International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA) (pp. 1-9). IEEE.

Fraboni, F., Morandini, S., Zappalà, S., Guglielmi, D., Mariani, M. G., De Angelis, M., & Pietrantoni, L. (2024). Occupational safety in homecare organizations: the design and implementation of a train-the-trainer program. Home health care services quarterly, 43(2), 87-113.

 

Teaching methods

Teaching methods are:

A) Lectures where the lecturer gives a review of the literature, shows conceptual issues and empirical findings and opens up for questions and comments. The slides presented during the lectures will be made available on the virtual platform after the lectures.

B) Student-active teaching methods: flipped classroom, in-class activities to be performed in pairs or in small groups, role-play and case work. Flipped classroom is the process of moving lecture content from face-to-face class time to before class by assigning it as homework. This allows for more interactive forms of learning to take place during class. This approach supports instructors playing their most important role of guiding their students to deeper thinking and higher levels of application.

Ethical code. All students are expected to follow the ethical code of the University of Bologna. In addition, students are expected to treat each other, themselves and the course instructor and teaching assistant with respect and courtesy, including respecting diversity of all types.

Assessment methods

the final assessment will be structured as follows:

• Up to 3 points: active participation during the course (evaluated by Prof. Pietrantoni and Prof. De Angelis)
• Up to 7 points: practical team assignment (instructions provided by Prof. De Angelis)
• Up to 20 points: written exam based on the reading list provided by Prof. Pietrantoni

The first written exam session is scheduled for February 4 at 11:00 in Computer Lab 1.

The exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions (four options each, one correct). It is based on the prescribed readings and lecture slides. Duration: 60 minutes. To support your preparation for the written exam, we have also streamlined the reading list (mandatory):

• Dodoo, J. E., & Al-Samarraie, H. (2019). Factors leading to unsafe behavior in the twenty first century workplace: a review. Management Review Quarterly, 69(4), 391–414.
• Hofmann, D. A., Burke, M. J., & Zohar, D. (2017). 100 years of occupational safety research: From basic protections and work analysis to a multilevel view of workplace safety and risk.Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 375.
• Aburumman, M., Newnam, S., & Fildes, B. (2019). Evaluating the effectiveness of workplace interventions in improving safety culture: A systematic review. Safety Science, 115, 376–392.
• Larouzee, J., & Le Coze, J. C. (2020). Good and bad reasons: The Swiss cheese model and its critics. Safety Science, 126, 104660.
• Hollnagel, E. (2008). Risk + barriers = safety? Safety Science, 46(2), 221–229.
• Fraboni, F., Morandini, S., Zappalà, S., Guglielmi, D., Mariani, M. G., De Angelis, M., & Pietrantoni, L. (2024). Occupational safety in homecare organizations: the design and implementation of a train-the-trainer program. Home Health Care Services Quarterly, 43(2), 87–113.
• Lecture slides

 

Office hours

See the website of Luca Pietrantoni

See the website of Marco De Angelis