Errors Evaluation Using Barrier Analysis- A Case Study in Laboratory Unit

The laboratory unit is one of the most dangerous work environments in which the occurrence of errors can lead to severe injuries to patients, psychological damages to the service providers, degradation of the unit, and legal consequences. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the laboratory unit of Akhtar Hospital in Tehran. The current study was organized as follow: literature review based on previous studies and scientific resources, interview with laboratory staffs, design the methodology of research, studying the instructions, observing activities and practices. A Hierarchal Task Analyze (HTA) method was applied to evaluate tasks, thereafter errors and obstacles were identified based on Barrier Analysis instruction. Finally appropriate control strategies were proposed to reduce the risk of errors.  A total of 552 errors were identified of which 86 barriers were  in the laboratory unit including 12 administrative barriers, 15 statutory barriers, 9 humanitarian action barriers, 18 supervision and cooperation barriers, 8 educational barriers, 0 natural barriers, 9 physical barriers and Finally 15 environmental design barriers. The results and risk assessment showed that functional errors (maximum frequency) and errors in this area should be given priority to be controlled and reduced. This is possible through the development of instructions, training courses, close supervision on officials and frequent inspections, record the errors and disclosure.