A systematic approach to public health - Novel application of the human factors analysis and classification system to public health and COVID-19

Steve J Bickley; Benno Torgler

doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105312

A systematic approach to public health - Novel application of the human factors analysis and classification system to public health and COVID-19

Saf Sci. 2021 Aug:140:105312. doi: 10.1016/j.ssci.2021.105312. Epub 2021 Apr 18.

Authors

Steve J Bickley^{1

2}, Benno Torgler^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Economics and Finance, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia.
² Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology (BEST), 2 George St, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia.
³ CREMA - Centre for Research in Economics, Management, and the Arts, Südstrasse 11, CH-8008 Zürich, Switzerland.

Abstract

In this article, we argue for a novel adaptation of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) to proactive incidence prevention in the public health and in particular, during and in response to COVID-19. HFACS is a framework of causal categories of human errors typically applied for systematic retrospective incident analysis in high-risk domains. By leveraging this approach proactively, appropriate, and targeted measures can be quickly identified and established to mitigate potential errors at different levels within the public health system (from tertiary and secondary healthcare workers to primary public health officials, regulators, and policymakers).

Keywords: HFACS; Human factors; Incident prevention; Public health; Systems approach.