Safety at the Sharp End: A Guide to Non-Technical Skills

Safety at the sharp end is a good book for NTS/Human Factors/CRM trainers, but it’s a bit on the academic side for frontline supervisors wanting to increase their knowledge about the subject, both in writing style and with regards to practical applications.

a little tough to read for most people but very good information

Great

Following the introduction, the book is structured around chapters on 7 'non-technical' (i.e. human factors related) skills. These are: situational awareness, decision making, communications, team working, leadership, managing stress and coping with fatigue. There are then 3 more general chapters on identifying, training and assessing non-technical skills. The examples used are mostly from aviation, offshore and surgery. There are extensive bibliographies after each chapter. While covering some complex subjects the writing style is very accessible.

Safety at the sharp end. I have to say, it was difficult for me to finish that book as I was working a lot and also had to juggle studying for my fellowship exam. But I do have to say this, that book was a pleasure to read. It should be ‘THE’ textbook for human factors training in my opinion. Reading it, it was written in a humble form. One that you can feel that the authors just wanted you to take something out of this book. Working in an ED environment, I found that this book was a godsent. Granted now I have my eyes open more than every when at work!

Used it as the basis for pre-coirse assignmentsfor an SFJ (level 5) accredited fire service Incident Command Course. Especially useful for anyone researching Decision Making.Quite an easy read considering the subject matter, far easier than the academic papers I also used to write my assignments.Did it provide me with the understanding to complete my work - yes. Would I take it on holiday - no!

This is a well written book that introduces the issues / idea of 'Human Factors' into errors across a number of areas including, surgical safety, the nuclear industry and aviation. It puts forward seven main catagories and divides these into a number of non-technical skills. For example, situation awareness is identified as a category and sub-divided into three elements which include, gathering information, interpreting information and anticipating future states. Each of these elements are then discussed in a chapter illustrating each with examples from various contexts. I was looking at this book from a surgical perspective and use it as a source for both post and pre-registration Operating Department Practitioner and nursing students. It raises interesting relevant points but where comparing avaition to health for example whilst dealing with 'human factors' it seems not to give enough creedance to being human from a caring perspective. It discusses the idea and advocates that health care practitioners should wear 'do not disturb' tabbards when carrying out complex and potentially dangerous tasks such as medicine rounds, comparing this to the pre-flight checks that go on in the aircraft cockpit. Fine but does not take into account the cockpit is isolated from the passengers but the medicine round is not isolated from the other patients and their requirements.I think that it is a useful text and gives students quite a lot to think about in relation to their practice.

I consumed this book one Easter Holidays. From some humble beginnings with a Sim Man this ignited my interest in Human Factors and how it can be applied in the workplace. I work in an ED and this environment is just right for the application of human factors training. Now when we call our trauma team we all have labels with our roles and our names stuck to the front of our aprons so that we can communicate better. Over the past couple of years simulation and Human Factors training have started having a real impact in Emergency Medicine. The only thing I would say is that this area has move on very fast and there is enough simulation data now to provide some more examples from medicine itself, instead of aviation. However, if you are just starting out this is a great read, filled with tales of awful accidents and their simple, remediable origins.

Following the introduction, the book is structured around chapters on 7 'non-technical' (i.e. human factors related) skills. These are: situational awareness, decision making, communications, team working, leadership, managing stress and coping with fatigue. There are then 3 more general chapters on identifying, training and assessing non-technical skills. The examples used are mostly from aviation, offshore and surgery. There are extensive bibliographies after each chapter. While covering some complex subjects the writing style is very accessible.