Systemic approach to human factors in business

The Human Factor, a mysterious expression sometimes fraught with misunderstanding, often evokes the notion of human error, accident or even catastrophe.

We often forget that it's thanks to this human factor that projects come to fruition, that companies succeed, that so-called "high-risk" systems are reliable.

After decades during which man was considered essentially as a failure factor, a certain reversal of this trend can be observed. It's true that major industrial accidents such as Bhopal, Chernobyl, Piper Alpha, Tenerife and Challenger (to name but a few) have marked these past decades. The causes of accidents were often hastily attributed to the human factor (HF), i.e. to the "error" or "fault" of the operator, driver or pilot.

Most of the companies involved now agree that the human contribution is paramount, whatever the sector of activity. In systems such as air transport, petrochemicals, the space sector and the nuclear industry, FH is increasingly taken into account, as it has become essential, whether during design, construction or operation. Moreover, the contribution of FH approaches cannot be limited to these production or transport systems. Service activities, employing a growing number of people, are also confronted with this issue. As a result, engineers are called upon to work with the often new character of the FH contributor.

The main aim of this article is not to explain in detail the field of intervention and methods of the FH practitioner - that would be too ambitious a task, and one article would not suffice - but rather to show, through a few examples, how FHs are taken into account in a systemic way, in order to optimize the functioning of organizations.

We begin by defining the concept of FH and the links between FH and systems thinking. We will then outline the presuppositions and preconceived ideas that distort the engineer's perception of FH and its applications. These will be illustrated mainly by the contributions of the Palo Alto School to the understanding and management of conflict, and by the highlighting of the antagonistic objectives that are a common feature of business operations.