Establishing a Human Factors Network for High-Risk Industries in Canada

Academic and professional disciplines form societies, associations, groups and networks to grow communities, build culture, create and share knowledge, develop and recruit talent, collaborate and advocate for its members. This article details the creation and initial development of a special interest group for Human Factors, specifically focused on high-risk safety-critical industries in Eastern Canada. The HFC Canada network was conceptualized by recognizing an opportunity for collaboration and Human Factors knowledge sharing among multidisciplinary stakeholders within the offshore energy and maritime sectors in Eastern Canada as they transitioned toward digitalized, remote, and autonomous operations. The impetus and underlying motivation is to foster collaboration and communication across key stakeholders and better understand their processes within these high-risk, safety-critical domains. This article details the initial formation of the network, operational structure and activities, including initial feedback and perspectives from different stakeholders, lessons learned, and future direction.