''Preface There has been a growing awareness among the general public and the medical professional community of the occurrence of failures and mistakes in health care, from primary care procedures to the complexities of the operating room. Medical personnel and policy makers are desirous for both an assessment and investigation of the problem in order to unveil the root cause to pinpoint the factors and guilty parties, and proposals for corrective measures and improvement of the situation. This book examines the problem and investigates the tools to improve health care quality and safety from a human engineering viewpoint--the applied scientific field engaged in the interaction between the human operator (functionary, worker), the task requirements, the governing technical systems, and the characteristics of the work environment. The editors' major claim is that the main cause for the multiplicity of medical errors is not lack of motivation or carelessness of care providers, rather the hostile and unfriendly work environment confronted by doctors, nurses, and other members of the medical team. The health care working environment in the main is not properly planned, nor is it appropriate to the tasks facing the team members; it is considerably disadvantaged by the lack of a systemic thought approach enabling the system to allow carrying out of tasks in an efficient and safe manner. The book's chapters are based on a theoretical and practical approach developed by the editors, Yoel Donchin, representing the medical profession, and Daniel Gopher, from the human factors engineering field, cooperating over a period of approximately two decades.''--