Managing change

Change has the potential to increase the level of risk in an organisation. There are many examples of incidents where a failure to manage change effectively has been a contributory factor. Both technical and organisational changes may require an assessment of their impact on human performance.

Technical changes include:

  • the introduction of new technologies
  • increase in the levels of automation
  • use of new feed materials in a process
  • use of new equipment
  • increase in process variables (e.g., pressure or temperature).

Organisational changes include:

  • revised employment practices (e.g., increased outsourcing to contractors)
  • updated business models
  • reducing staffing levels, or changing staff locations
  • removing layers of supervision
  • changes to reporting relationships.

These changes will often impact on the tasks that people are expected to perform. Although many companies have a formal management of change process (typically more often for technical changes), these processes often fail to consider the human performance implications.

The articles below consider how the different types of change can impact on human performance (or human reliability), and how to manage the risk.

Knowledge hub: Managing change

Want to know more? See the articles below:

Organisational change

Organisational changes include all personnel, process and system-related changes with the potential to either directly or indirectly affect the control of significant health and safety risks.

Technical change

Companies may have a Management of Change (MOC) process for assessing technical and engineering changes. This article provides guidance to assess the impact of technical change on human reliability when carrying out critical tasks.

The Ironies of Automation

The ‘ironies of automation’ refers to a set of unintended consequences as a result of automation, that could detrimentally affect human performance on critical tasks. Automation might increase human performance issues, rather than eliminate them.

Nimrod XV230

A failure of leadership, culture and priorities. Nimrod XV230 was an ‘organisational failure’.

Change is the only constant

Organisational change is inevitable, but does it have to lead to disaster? Whatever it is that defines ‘safety’ for your organisation, whether that is keeping chemicals in the pipes, keeping trains on the tracks, airplanes in…

Keep it simple

Discusses the relationship between complexity and system failures. The author of The Nimrod Review, The Hon. Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, states that simplicity is your friend and complexity is your enemy.

COVID-19: Safe to fly again?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, up to 64% of the global aircraft fleet was in storage (around 17000 aircraft) and tens of thousands of pilots were also grounded for many months. The human factors implications are significant.

…

Space Shuttle Columbia

The Columbia space shuttle disaster on February 1, 2003, resulted from a foam strike that compromised its wing’s thermal protection. NASA’s organisational culture, characterized by complacency and inadequate safety assessments, contributed to this tragedy. Despite prior…

Normalisation of deviance

“Normalisation of deviance” is when deviations from agreed standards or working practices become incorporated into the routine. Small changes, slight deviations from the norm, gradually become the norm.

Here’s some guidance on identifying and managing such…

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