Every day, perioperative teams make hundreds of decisions that influence patient outcomes. But even the most skilled professionals can only perform at their best when the systems, culture and working environment around them support safe practice. Staffing pressures, increasing patient complexity, advancing technologies, workforce challenges and the ongoing impact of fatigue and burnout all influence how people perform, communicate and make decisions in the operating theatre.
As a result, human factors are increasingly recognised as a critical component of safe, effective perioperative care. The challenges facing operating departments today mean that patient safety depends not only on clinical expertise and staffing numbers, but also on how people, systems and teams work together.
Through initiatives such as our #notjusta campaign which champions psychological safety and the importance of every voice being heard in theatre, and our Human Factors in Practice Symposium, AfPP is driving conversations about culture, communication and safer surgery, and providing practical support to help organisations create safer environments for both patients and staff.
Beyond human error: understanding what really drives safer surgery
Human factors research tells us that patient safety is rarely influenced by one person alone. Instead, it is shaped by the complex interaction between people, processes, technology, workload, the working environment, and organisational culture.
Human factors is a well-established discipline that examines how systems can be designed to support people to perform safely and effectively. In perioperative practice, this means looking beyond individual error and understanding how factors such as communication, workload, fatigue, staffing pressures, equipment design, team dynamics and leadership behaviours can influence decision-making and patient outcomes.
Operating theatres are highly complex environments where multidisciplinary teams work together under pressure. Decisions are often time-critical, interruptions are common, and practitioners must balance technical expertise with situational awareness, communication and teamwork. Human factors principles recognise these realities and seek to reduce risk by creating systems and cultures that help teams perform at their best.
Why psychological safety matters
One of the most important aspects of human factors is psychological safety. For example, a practitioner who feels confident enough to question or challenge an unfamiliar process or raise a concern about a patient’s condition can prevent a small issue from becoming a serious incident. Team members must feel able to speak up when they identify a concern, question a decision, or notice something that may place a patient at risk. Research and real-world patient safety cases continue to demonstrate the consequences of communication failures, hierarchy and cultures where individuals feel unable to challenge decisions or concerns are not heard or acted upon. AfPP’s #notjusta campaign has shone a spotlight on this issue, reinforcing the message that every voice in theatre matters and that patient safety depends on everyone feeling able to raise concerns, and contribute their knowledge, experience and professional judgement.
Responding to today’s theatre pressures
As perioperative teams navigate workforce shortages, increasingly complex patient pathways, expanding surgical roles, fatigue, burnout and the growing use of advanced technologies such as robotic surgery, understanding human factors is no longer optional. It has become a fundamental component of safe perioperative practice.
This systems-based approach is increasingly reflected across AfPP’s work. Our Safe Staffing for Patients in the Perioperative Setting publication recognises that safe staffing cannot be defined by numbers alone, highlighting the importance of leadership, workforce capability, human factors and system design in supporting safe decision-making and patient care.
Putting human factors into practice
AfPP’s upcoming Human Factors in Practice: Strengthening Culture, Performance and Safety Symposium will support perioperative professionals in developing their understanding of these important issues. Delegates will hear from leading clinicians, academics and human factors specialists, explore real-life challenges facing operating departments, and gain practical, evidence-based strategies they can apply immediately in their own workplaces. Topics include psychological safety, burnout, staffing pressures, role boundaries, robotics and the application of human factors principles in everyday perioperative practice. Delegates will also earn five CPD hours and will leave with practical strategies that can be applied within their own teams to strengthen communication, reduce risk and build safer, more supportive working environments.
Moving beyond blame towards safer care
Every day, perioperative professionals work in highly complex environments where communication, teamwork, leadership and decision-making can have a direct impact on patient outcomes. As healthcare continues to evolve and operating departments face increasing pressures, understanding human factors has never been more important. By focusing not only on what people do, but also on the systems in which they work, perioperative teams can move beyond blame and towards sustainable improvements that enhance both patient safety and staff wellbeing.
Join us: AfPP Human factors in practice: strengthening culture, performance and safety
Thursday 8 October 2026
8.45am – 4pm
Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria Sheffield by IHG Sheffield, England
Tickets:
£49 AfPP members
£89 non-members