These programs are intended to provide a safe and healthy environment in which hazards are eliminated or minimized for employees, staff, patients, and visitors. Several activities fall under the umbrella of the safety program including emergency preparedness, hazardous materials management, infection prevention and control, radiation safety, environmental safety and hygiene, security, utility systems management, and preventive maintenance. However, even the best emergency evacuation plan or the most exacting preventive maintenance schedule cannot guard against the possibility of simple human error. Health care is a complex system and the people who work in this system make mistakes.
Human errors can also occur at the decision-making level.
A comprehensive patient safety program must look for ways to help caregivers do a better job of coping with the complex world of health care delivery. To prevent human errors in patient care processes you first need to understand the potential for error occurrence and consequences. Hazard analysis is a technique used to review information about a process to determine how safe it is for patients. Examine an existing process to improve its safety and to formulate appropriate operational changes. To understand what is meant by hazard analysis, you must first understand what is a process.