NIHR SafetyNet Human Factors & Ergonomics Working Group

Date: 27 November 2025
Time: 1-2pm
Where: Online (Zoom)

Our working definition of safety equity is defined by ‘access to, delivery and experience of fair, safe and high-quality health, and social care. Research in this field aims to identify and codesign solutions to minimise safety disparities.’

This interactive one-hour workshop introduces patient safety and human factors professionals to the emerging concept of safety equity, considering fairness in both the processes and outcomes of patient safety work. Currently, few empirical papers explicitly combine human factors/ergonomics (HFE) methods with an explicit safety-equity research question; the connection is often implicitly described. Using the SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) framework and a real-world maternity case study (Virani et al., 2024/ Hale-Lopez et al., 2025 Healthcare), together we will discuss how to distinguish between Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) efforts and safety equity, apply a systems lens to uncover inequities in a mini case study, and use one safety domain to design practical interventions that bridge inclusive practice (EDI) with equitable safety outcomes. This discussion will help to develop our understanding of the key principles and criteria that can be created to support researchers in applying a safety equity lens. 

Speaker

Livi Joseph, Senior Safety Equity Research Fellow of the NIHR Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration

Olivia holds a master’s degree in Inflammation: Cellular and Vascular Aspects from Queen Mary University of London, and graduated with a first-class BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Science from De Montfort University. Her career as a Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) Specialist within NHS research spanned over eight years, including strategic, management, advisory and facilitator roles. She is currently a Safety Equity Senior Research Fellow for the Yorkshire and Humber Patient Safety Research Collaboration. Her work focuses on staff safety, workforce wellbeing, racialised organisations and inclusive work practices to enhance the quality and safety of patient care. Her PhD explored racially minoritised hospital staff experiences of incivility within maternity services, examining organisational and system factors. It employed a dynamic, collaborative multimethod qualitative research approach. Olivia’s journey in health services research, epitomised by Audre Lourdes quote “It is within our differences that we are both most powerful and most vulnerable” unearthing these complexities is central to her commitment to transformative change.

Recommended (not essential) reading:

Burra, T. A., Auguste, B., Lo, L., Durowaye, T., Dawit, H., Fung, S., Shea, C., Rodak, T., Ramji, N., Sockalingam, S., & Wong, B. M. (2025). Equity in action: a scoping review and meta-framework for embedding equity in quality improvement. BMJ quality & safety, bmjqs-2024-018335. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2024-018335 [doi.org]

Chin M. H. (2020). Advancing health equity in patient safety: a reckoning, challenge and opportunity. BMJ quality & safety, bmjqs-2020-012599. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjqs-2020-012599 [doi.org]

Hale-Lopez, K. L., Verma, N., Chakravarthy, S., Handler, J., Ebert-Allen, R., Bond, W. F., & Wooldridge, A. R. (2024). Using the SEIPS Model to Assess a Maternal Hemorrhage Risk Alert Tool. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 68(1), 1881-1883. https://doi.org/10.1177/10711813241268737 [doi.org] (Original work published 2024)

Tsuei, J., Bandini, J. I., Thomas, A. D., James, K. F., Etchegaray, J. M., & Schulson, L. (2025). A Systems-Based framework for integrating health equity and patient safety. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 51(7–8), 498–506. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjq.2025.04.005 [doi.org]

Virani, Virani, D. A., Szatan, A., Oh, S., Gore, A., Hebbar, L., Goodier, C., Wilson, D., & Alfred, M. C. (2024). Identifying systems factors contributing to adverse events in maternal care using incident reports. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 101, 103590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ergon.2024.103590 [doi.org]

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