Applying human factors to improve patient safety, morale and team working for oral pathology and medicine specialists.

Background: Human error is inevitable, and therefore can be considered as a 'normal' part of everyday life. Unfortunately, error can never be eliminated completely. However, learning from our mistakes can help reduce problems in future. Fifty years ago, most clinicians paid little or no attention to the human factors (HF) that can affect individual and team performance. It has only been in the last 20-25 years that colleagues in healthcare have truly begun recognizing the importance of HF and non-technical skills in medicine and dentistry and how their application can significantly improve patient safety and aid better team working and staff morale in the clinical setting and laboratory.

Discussion: Personal factors such as stress, tiredness, hunger and dehydration all reduce human performance and can raise the risk of mistakes. In addition, how we work and interact with the wider team is important since many errors can occur because of ineffective communication, steep hierarchal (authority) gradients and loss of situational awareness.  This short HF overview in the 50th commemorative special of JOPM issue is timely. It provides a contemporary overview of human factors and performance that the authors consider important for oral medicine and pathology colleagues and which can affect individuals and teams This article also discuss ways to reduce the chances of medical and dental error and improve patient safety.