Safety at the Sharp End ─ A Guide to Non-Technical Skills

Flin (applied psychology, U. of Aberdeen) and her co-authors, a human factors researcher and a consulting psychologist, describe and analyze the cognitive and social skills required for efficient and safe operations in highly technical environments. They believe productivity goes up and accident rates and failures go down when industries apply Crew Resource Management (CRM) principles. These principles are the non-technical "people" part of complex operations, and include such elements of safety as situation awareness, decision-making, communication, working in teams, leadership, managing stress, and coping with fatigue. Especially valuable are the chapters on identifying necessary non-technical skills, training methods and assessment. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Rhona Flin (BSc, PhD Psychology) is Professor of Applied Psychology in the School of Psychology at the University of Aberdeen, UK. She is a Chartered Psychologist, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Paul O'Connor (BSc, MSc, PhD Psychology) has carried out human factors research in a number of high risk industries and the military. Margaret Crichton (MA, MSc, PhD Psychology) is a Chartered Psychologist and founder of People Factor Consultants Ltd. She has published in both academic and industry journals