Risk & Error Management

Can other organisations benefit from aviations error management strategies?

Airlines and safety critical companies are not the only organisations that need to consider and manage risk.

In a seminar held by the aircraft manufacturer Boeing there was a consensus among the participants, from a wide range of backgrounds, that the principles of aviation’s Human Factors Training (Crew Resource Management) would be effective if applied to high performance management teams from other industries. Banks, financial institutions, software developers for example also have to manage risk and errors. Mistakes made by individuals or teams in such organisations can be highly consequential in monetary terms.

Many of these organisations have put risk management processes in place which focus on minimising loss. To complement and reinforce these processes Error Management programmes, such as Safety in Mind, developed in aviation recognise that human error is inevitable. They seek to develop strategies at the level of the individual, the team, the task, the workplace, the organisation and integrate them into the effective management of risk. The objective is to prevent these errors becoming significant, with far reaching consequences.

Omega Training Solutions offers an Error Management programme designed to complement existing risk management processes. Raising awareness of 'Human Factors' issues, the aim is to influence attitudes and encourage participants to use simple tools and strategies becoming more proactive in the risk and error management process.

........the Group Treasurer of Baring's Investment bank.........Later, he was to say that there was no excuse for not making reconciliation the highest priority. 'But there was always something else more pressing'. This sentiment crops up frequently in the history of organisational accidents." 'Managing the Risks of Organisational Accidents', James Reason, 1999