Human Factors for Managers Training
Open Course Bespoke Course

Human Factors for Managers: Leading a High-Reliability Organisation

Transforming Safety Culture Through Strategic Leadership

3 Days
Live Online
UK Centre
In-House

Human Factors for Managers

Move beyond compliance. Lead the transition from a "Culture of Blame" to a "Culture of Resilience."

In safety-critical industries, a manager's most vital role is not just supervising technical tasks, but managing the system in which those tasks occur. While frontline staff manage immediate threats, leaders must manage the organisational conditions that allow errors to manifest.

The Global Air Training 3-Day Human Factors Managers Course is an advanced programme specifically designed for those responsible for safety, performance, and team oversight. We provide the high-level non-technical skills necessary to lead high-risk, team-based activities with precision.

Why This Course is Essential for Management

Traditional safety training often stops at "what" went wrong. This course teaches you to understand how it happened and how to prevent it through systemic change.

  • Strategic Non-Technical Skills: Master the leadership aspects of situational awareness, decision-making, and communication to effectively manage team-based, high-risk activities.
  • Beyond Technical Competency: While your team has the technical skills, this course provides the "missing link"—the cognitive and interpersonal skills required to manage complex human systems.
  • Proactive Risk Management: Shift your organisation's focus toward avoiding, trapping, and mitigating errors before they result in an incident.
  • Building a "Just Culture": Learn how to investigate human error in a way that encourages reporting and systemic improvement rather than fear and concealment.

Course Programme

This comprehensive 3-day programme equips managers with the strategic skills to lead high-reliability teams.

Day 1: Foundations of Human Performance & Communication

  • Course Launch: Introduction to aims, objectives, and the history of Human Factors (HF)
  • Error & Threat Management:
    • Introduction to the Threat and Error Management (TEM) framework
    • Understanding the Error Chain concept and human reliability
    • Case Study: Detailed analysis of the Santa Fe incident
  • Effective Communication:
    • Identifying and overcoming barriers to communication and coordination
    • Mastering Assertive Communication techniques
    • Best practices for Pre-job Briefings and Handovers
  • Monitoring & Intervention:
    • Developing barriers to monitoring failure and enhancing monitoring skills
    • Implementing the PACE Model for assertive intervention

Day 2: Operational Cognitive Skills

  • Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): Analyzing why personnel deviate from SOPs and implementing strategies to improve adherence
  • Situational Awareness (SA):
    • Understanding the Model of Situational Awareness and hazards associated with SA loss
    • Techniques to recover and maintain SA in dynamic environments
  • Strategic Decision Making:
    • Exploring the Decision Process Model and identifying decision errors and traps
    • Introduction to Recognition Primed Decision Making and practical decision-making tools
  • Fatigue & Vigilance:
    • Identifying signs and symptoms of psychological, subjective, and pathological fatigue
    • Implementing countermeasures to manage fatigue and maintain vigilance
  • Case Study

Day 3: Leadership, Teamwork & Performance

  • Stress & Workload Management:
    • Examining the impact of stress on performance and recognizing symptoms
    • Strategies for managing workload and stress effectively
  • Conflict Resolution: Managing the impact of conflict on individual and team performance
  • Information Processing: Understanding information acquisition, memory limitations, and the impact of illusions
  • Personality & Behaviour:
    • Assessing how personality, attitudes, and behaviours affect the team
    • Engaging in Self-Assessment and Self-Critique
  • Leadership Excellence:
    • Defining leadership and followership dynamics within a team
    • Focusing on cooperation, delegation, and Team Synergy
  • Practical Application:
    • Case Study
    • Team Synergy Exercise
  • Review & Certification: Final summary, Q&A session, and issuance of course certificates

Learning Outcomes: CRM for Managers

Upon completion of this three-day programme, managers will be equipped with the strategic non-technical skills required to lead high-reliability teams and foster a proactive safety culture.

Strategic Oversight & Error Management

  • Systemic Risk Identification: Managers will be able to apply the Threat and Error Management (TEM) framework to identify latent organisational threats before they result in active errors.
  • Breaking the Error Chain: Participants will understand the Error Chain concept and develop the oversight skills necessary to intervene and break the chain of events leading to an incident.

Leadership & Team Dynamics

  • Facilitating Synergy: Leaders will learn to balance leadership and followership, promoting team synergy and effective delegation to optimize group performance.
  • Conflict Resolution: Managers will gain the skills to resolve internal team conflicts effectively, ensuring that interpersonal issues do not compromise operational safety or performance.
  • Personality Awareness: Through self-assessment and self-critique, managers will understand how their own personality and attitudes influence team behaviour and safety culture.

Operational Resilience

  • Advanced Decision-Making: Participants will utilize Decision Process Models and recognize "Recognition Primed" decision-making traps to make more reliable choices under pressure.
  • Human Performance Limitation Management: Leaders will be equipped to identify the signs of fatigue and stress in their workforce and implement practical countermeasures to maintain team vigilance.
  • SOP Adherence & Information Processing: Managers will understand the psychological reasons why personnel deviate from Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and how to improve adherence through better system design and information processing.

Intervention & Communication

  • Culture of Psychological Safety: Managers will be trained in Assertive Communication and the PACE model, empowering them to create an environment where staff feel safe to intervene during a safety-critical task.
  • Standardised Operational Briefings: Leaders will master the structure of effective pre-job briefings and handovers to ensure no critical information is lost during shift or task changes.

Who Should Attend?

The 3-Day CRM for Managers Course is designed for those in high-reliability and safety-critical sectors—such as utilities, nuclear, and engineering—who hold responsibility for team performance and safety outcomes. This programme is essential for professionals who must move beyond technical supervision to manage the complex human variables that prevent or contribute to operational incidents.

  • Senior Leaders & Department Heads: Those responsible for defining organisational culture, attitudes, and leadership standards across the business.
  • Operational & Site Managers: Leaders overseeing high-risk environments who need to manage workload factors, identify signs of fatigue, and ensure strict adherence to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
  • Team Leaders & Supervisors: Individuals responsible for the precision of pre-job briefings and handovers and who require the skills to resolve conflicts that impact team performance.
  • Safety, Quality & Compliance Officers: Professionals tasked with investigating the "error chain," managing Threat and Error Management (TEM) frameworks, and auditing decision-making processes.
  • Shift Leads & Technical Leads: Personnel managing real-time operations who must maintain situational awareness and employ the PACE model to facilitate assertive interventions during safety-critical tasks.

Flexible Training Options

Option Description
UK Training Centre Instructor-led courses at our purpose-built facility.
Live Online Real-time, interactive sessions via our advanced Learning Management System.
Bespoke In-Company We bring the 3-day programme to your location, tailoring the case studies to your specific site risks and organisational challenges.

Invest in Your Organisation's Future

Do not wait for a critical incident to reveal systemic flaws. Empower your management team to build a proactive culture of safety and reliability today.

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