Emergency Services Human Factors & Road Risk Management
An expert-led online two-day CPD course to develop knowledge and skills in human factors and road risk management.
Human Factors is a sub-discipline of Psychology and this course focuses on how the individual interacts with the vehicle and road environment. The Human Factors and Road Risk Management course, accredited by the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) will help the emergency services to understand when and how human error is most likely to occur and what strategies can be put in place to mitigate the risk.
Who should attend?
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Driving instructors delivering training courses for the emergency services and remedial interventions.
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Driver risk managers with a key focus on managing risk via on-board telematics.
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Police fleet managers and insurance personnel who require an understanding of the role of Human Factors in crashes.
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Senior officers wishing to understand how best to manage driver risk within the service.
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Roads policing professionals involved in managing road risk.
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Emergency services fire and rescue personnel
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Ambulance NHS Trust personnel
Course Aim & Expected Outcomes
The course aims to explain the impact of Human Factors and road risk management so that appropriate interventions can be designed. On completion, delegates will understand key Human Factors associated with road user behaviour and be able to apply new knowledge and skills for improved risk management.
Why should you attend?
Skills
Provides you with the human factors skills to improve safety.
Knowledge
Builds your knowledge and experience to achieve career progression.
Confidence
Builds your confidence and demonstrates your credibility in managing road risk.
Course Content
Module One: Safe Systems
Understand the safe systems approach for emergency services driving
This module describes the main principles of the Safe System approach in which outcomes at the ‘sharp end’ are fed back to higher levels of the hierarchy to improve driver safety for the emergency services. This approach aims to change the focus of road traffic incident investigation from deconstructing what had happened in terms of events, acts, and errors, towards designing improved systems. There can be many reasons why a collision occurs, and systems may need to be improved if lessons from collisions are to be learned.
Module Two: Human Error
Identify human error and its effect on blue light drivers
Module Two considers that humans are flexible and adaptable resources. A blue light driver is expected to perform across many different driving and work-related tasks behind the wheel when they may be faced with incomplete data or unfamiliar situations. Human error that occurs during the process of executing complex driving tasks can be provoked by a wide variety of factors and need to be understood and categorised.
Module Three: Human Performance
Evaluate the factors that affect human performance abilities and limitations
Drivers working for the emergency services may drive under very different conditions over the course of a shift and are expected to drive with the highest level of awareness and skill in every situation. This module considers the impact of Human Factors on driving performance including: -
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Observation – ineffective scanning of the surroundings leading to relevant information not being processed.
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Attention distribution – fixating on specific hazards rather than paying attention to what is going on all around.
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Situational awareness – an inaccurate assessment of what is happening inside and outside the vehicle.
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Anticipation – application of an incomplete mental model that fails to predict what will happen.
Module Four: Fatigue and Workload
Explain the impact of fatigue and workload
Fatigue and sleepiness are usually used interchangeably but they reflect different states and human processes, although there is some overlap between them. Numerous studies have demonstrated that restricting sleep even by small amounts results in daytime driving performance deficits. Reduced vigilance often occurs with prolonged driving and a slower respond time to on-road hazards. Time of day has implications for collision risk and fatigue can be due to workload, long work hours and at-work organisational factors. Improved fatigue management can reduce the risk of human error.
Module Five: Road Risk Intervention
Design interventions for road risk management
There are several ways that error can be reduced by addressing the conditions that increase unsafe acts and error frequency. One of the interventions used by the emergency services to manage risk is the use of in-vehicle data recorders to monitor driver behaviour. Several studies show that telematics feedback can improve crash rates amongst fleets, including police fleets. One study of police drivers evaluated tachograph data as a basis for (positive and negative) feedback. Crashes and costs were reduced by 40-50% for up to 1.5 years. This module will consider several interventions for improved emergency services road risk management.
Working with the emergency services
Lisa has conducted police driving research since 1999 when she was commissioned by The Home Office to design methods to assess the risk of police driving leading to peer-reviewed publications. Lisa has also worked extensively with fire and rescue services and the NHS ambulance trusts to manage the risks of driving for work.
Lisa served as an IOPC (formally IPCC) expert panel member in 2004-5 for the investigation of police RTI’s and worked with the Police Foundation Advisory Group on the authoring team for Roadcraft, the Police Driver’s manual for the 2007 and 2013 editions.
Assessment and Certification
The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF) is a professional member organisation providing a route to Chartership for Human Factors specialists and Ergonomists. CIEHF recognise quality ergonomics services and accredit education and training courses. With the award of a Royal Charter, the CIEHF confers Chartered status on those members who fulfil certain criteria. Delegates complete short exercises to check for knowledge and are awarded a CIEHF accredited certificate on completion.
How to book your place
We run the Human Factors and Road Risk Management for the emergency services accredited course regularly throughout the year and up to 12 places are available on each course. You can book your place by contacting us using the PsyDrive booking form here.
Course Fee
£295 plus VAT
On receipt of your booking form, an invoice will be issued to your email address. The course fee must be paid via BACS at least ten working days before the start of the course. Once payment is received your place(s) will be confirmed along with your invite details and course materials.
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