The Employment Department Group (EDG) has already applied human factors to the planning, design and implementation of Information Technology (IT) systems. There have been demonstrable benefits both for staff and for the organisation through improved safety, better morale, increased productivity, reduced training costs and fewer failures and mistakes. (See Is ergonomics worth it? to compute these benefits in hard cash terms for your own organisation). However, recognising the scope for gaining further business benefit through a more systematic application of human factors throughout EDG, the Director of Business Services commissioned us to help introduce a 'human factors culture' amongst those responsible for developing information technology systems. This has involved facilitating a Group wide workshop and persuading senior IT managers to support a major drive to gain business benefit from applying human factors to the planning, design and use of IT in EDG.

Changing the culture in an organisation as large and diverse as EDG is ambitious and needs support and action at all levels. It will also take time to be fully effective, although there have already been some short term benefits and gains. Put simply, the plan involves:

• Formulating a Human Factors Mission Statement for high level endorsement by EDG
• Incorporating human factors milestones and deliverables into mainstream Project Management
• Promoting human factors practice at grass roots level through checklists, tools and mechanisms for sharing experience.

Our role now is to facilitate and support the 'Business Gains from Human Factors' group set up by senior management to implement the action plan.