The sixth National Human Factors in Patient Safety Conference is taking place on Friday, 22 May 2026.

The sixth National Human Factors in Patient Safety conference will bring together a community of human factors in patient safety advocates across Ireland and abroad.

The conference offers the opportunity to gain valuable knowledge and insights from human factors experts.

This year’s full-day hybrid conference will include an array of world-renown human factors in patient safety speakers with the inclusion of inter-professional parallel workshops (both face-to-face and online).

Our National Human Factors in Patient Safety Conference with the theme of 'Human Factors in Practice – How Far Have We Come?' will include a mixture of hybrid keynote talks, panel discussions and workshops designed to engage face to face and online attendees worldwide.

Agenda

• 09:00–10:00: Registration
• 10:00–10:15: Welcome from co-chairs (Dr Emily O'Dowd and Ms Dara O'Keeffe)
• 10:15–11:00: Keynote session: Professor Mike Fray, Professor of Ergonomics and Assisted Performance, Loughborough University (30 mins presentation, plus 15 minutes of questions)
• 11:20–12:50: Morning workshop sessions
• 12:45–14:00: Lunch
• 14:00–15:30: Afternoon workshop sessions
• 15:45–16:30: Keynote session: Professor Marie Ward, Chairperson of the Irish Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (IEHFS) and embedded human factors practitioner (30 mins presentation, plus 15 minutes of questions)
• 16:30–17:00: Live Q&A plus discussion panel

Registration

Register to attend the conference either in-person on virtually at the links below.

In-person

Online

Speakers

Dr Dara O’Keeffe (co-chair)
RCSI Simulation Lead in Postgraduate Surgical Education
Read more about Dr O'Keefee here.

Dr Emily O’Dowd
Head of MSc Human Factors and Patient Safety, Senior Lecturer in Surgical Education
Read more about Dr O'Dowd here.

Professor Marie Ward
Chairperson of the Irish Ergonomics and Human Factors Society (IEHFS) and Embedded Human Factors Practitioner
Professor Ward is an embedded researcher at the Quality and Safety Improvement Directorate, St James's Hospital Dublin, Ireland where she is engaged in a programme of Health Systems Human Factors Ergonomics Research and Improvement. Marie’s research interests include co-designing new systems from a socio-technical perspective to improve patient and staff safety and well-being and system performance.

Professor Mike Fray
Professor of Ergonomics and Assisted Performance, Loughborough University
With first degrees in Ergonomics (Loughborough University, 1987) and Physiotherapy (Leeds University, 1993) Professor Mike Fray had a varied career in the NHS, consultancy and education before entering Loughborough University full time in 2011. His research focus is the improvement of the delivery of healthcare activities with a special focus on improving human performance, the physical risks to staff and the delivery of the highest quality care for the patient.

Liam Chadwick
Chartered Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist with CIEHF
Liam's core interests are systems thinking and design in healthcare, patient-centred care, human error analysis, process optimisation and resilience. Over the past 14 years, Liam has worked closely with more than 80 hospitals in America, Australia and Canada supporting implementation of the accountable care unit clinical microsystem and structured interdisciplinary bedside rounds (SIBR) model of care.

Charlie Dineen
Programme Manager, Transforming Theatre QI Programme, National Clinical Programmes
Charlie has over 30 years’ experience in operations management, quality management and process improvement across industry, higher education and healthcare. He holds a Master Black Belt in Lean Sigma and has held a number of roles as senior site technical lead in lean operations and change management. Charlie is a strong advocate for incorporating ‘management structures’ and ‘management systems’ in improvement activity and programme design to ensure sustainment and growth.

Dr Therese Callinan
Senior Improvement Advisor with National Perioperative Patient Enhancement Programme
Dr Callinan works directly with hospitals to deliver the theatre effectiveness programme and support system wide improvement in perioperative care. Throughout her career, Therese has led and delivered large scale perioperative, patient flow and quality care improvement initiatives, working closely with clinical and executive teams to translate data, improvement science, and operational insights into real gains in access, throughput, and patient safety.