Background Human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches to patient safety have addressed five different domains: usability of technology; human error and its role in patient safety; the role of healthcare worker performance in patient safety; system resilience; and HFE systems approaches to patient safety.

Methods A review of various HFE approaches to patient safety and studies on HFE interventions was conducted.

Results This paper describes specific examples of HFE-based interventions for patient safety. Studies show that HFE can be used in a variety of domains.

Conclusions HFE is a core element of patient safety improvement. Therefore, every effort should be made to support HFE applications in patient safety.