Designing for innovation and safety: How can medical device designers do both?
Lead Research Organisation:
Loughborough University
Department Name: Business and Economics
Abstract
This research is concerned with how medical device designers can negotiate the twin requirements of developing both safe and innovative products. The focus is on the management of designers, and particularly how designers use the characteristics of their jobs (for example, their level of autonomy to make design decisions) in their day-to-day work. The research proposes to assess a number of variables which could influence the designers' perfomance, including facets of their working environment, for example their job characeristics and team context, aspects of their personality, and more dynamic personal influences such as levels of innovation, levels of safety-related cognitive error and important dynamic phenomena related to their job characteristicsAfter assessment of stable aspects of job characteristics and team contexts within which the designers work, at least 150 designers in 20 design teams will be tracked over the course of two working weeks, assessing the dynamic phenomena four times per day, every two hours. The results of the research will increase knowledge concerning how jobs can be configured in order to promote both safety and innovation, as well as having a practical impact in the area of the management of designers workload and working patterns.
Organisations
- Loughborough University (Lead Research Organisation)
- Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) (Collaboration)
- NHS Innovations East Midlands (Collaboration)
- National Health Service (Collaboration)
- 3M (United States) (Collaboration)
- Health & Safety Laboratory (Collaboration)
- East Midlands Medilink (Collaboration)
- 3M (United Kingdom) (Project Partner)
- Medilink East Midlands (Project Partner)
- National Patient Safety Agency (Project Partner)
- Association British Healthcare Ind Ltd (Project Partner)
- East Midlands NHS Innovations Hub (Project Partner)
Publications
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2009)
What are the Characteristics of Effective Problem Solving Processes?
Daniels K
(2013)
Utilizing job resources: Qualitative evidence of the roles of job control and social support in problem solving
in Work & Stress
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2009)
Squaring the safety circle
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2009)
Squaring the safety circle
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2013)
Problem-solving, well-being and fluid job design
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2010)
Problem-Solving For Safe Design: Evidence from Construction and Healthcare Engineering
K Daniels
(2010)
Problem-solving and emotion regulation in action.
Kevin Daniels (Author)
(2010)
Problem-solving and emotion regulation in action
Jane Glover (Author)
(2011)
Problem solving and innovation in small enterprise: the use of different forms of capital
Daniels K
(2010)
Match making and match breaking: The nature of match within and around job design
in Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology
Biron, Caroline; Karanika-Murray, Maria; Cooper, Cary L.
(2012)
Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-Being: Addressing Process and Context
V Wimalasiri
(2009)
Constrained innovation: How designers innovate within the boundaries of safety.
Alistair Cheyne (Author)
(2009)
Constrained innovation: How designers innovate within the boundaries of safety
Glover J
(2017)
An exploratory study into everyday problem solving in the design process of medical devices
in Journal of Engineering Design
Bakker, Arnold B.; Daniels, Kevin
(2012)
A Day in the Life of a Happy Worker
Bakker, Arnold B.; Daniels, Kevin
(2012)
A Day in the Life of a Happy Worker
Jane Glover (Author)
(2009)
16 reports for organisations participating in the research
| Description | A checklist developed from research done on D04863X and EP/F02942X/1 and other research with colleagues at the Health and Safety Laboratory. The checklist has been included in a toolkit for managing common health problems in the workplace funded by the Health and Safety Executive. The toolkit is under development. Beneficiaries: Managers, workers Contribution Method: The research provided some of the main principles regarding effective problem-solving in work environments. Subsequent research found these principles were applicable to all problems, not just problems encountered by design engineers, and added a few additional principles on taking effective breaks from problems. This and related research indicated that successful problem-solving contributes to well-being as well as work performance and innovation. The work contributes to knowledge of the fluid nature of job design, and how the day to day experience of job characteristics influences adaptive outcomes such as problem-solving in innovation intensive and safety critical sectors. The work contributes to knowledge concerning the fluid nature of job design, and how day-to-day variation in how workers use resources embedded in their work can produce adaptive outcomes, such as problem-solving in innovation intensive and safety critical contexts. The work also contributes to uinderstanding of how innovation is influenced by resources such as knowledge and social capital differ between multinationals, smaller organisations and public organisations. Beneficiaries: Work and organisational psychologists, business and management researchers Contribution Method: The data provide a direct assessment of one of the key assumptions underpinning resource based models of job design, namely that job resources are beneficial because they help workers deal with job demands (e.g. problems). The research has also indicated ways in which resource based models of job design might be extended. The research also contributes to capitals theory, by indicating that access and use of capitals for innovation is dependent on organisational contexts. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Construction,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Healthcare,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Retail |
| Impact Types | Economic |
| Description | Applying Principles of Safety in Design to Developing Safer Patient Systems |
| Amount | £21,115 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | J12321 (Loughborough code) |
| Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | |
| Description | Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace |
| Amount | £209,009 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | OH1602 |
| Organisation | Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2009 |
| End | 03/2012 |
| Description | Developing an Intervention Toolbox for the Common Health Problems in the Workplace |
| Amount | £209,009 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | OH1602 |
| Organisation | Health and Safety Executive (HSE) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2009 |
| End | 03/2012 |
| Description | Successful Radical Innovation: From ideas to market |
| Amount | £18,501 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RES-451-26-0496 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2008 |
| End | 12/2010 |
| Description | Successful Radical Innovation: From ideas to market |
| Amount | £18,501 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | RES-451-26-0496 |
| Organisation | Economic and Social Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2008 |
| End | 12/2010 |
| Description | 3M Health Care Ltd |
| Organisation | 3M |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Private |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Assoc. of British Healthcare Industries |
| Organisation | Association of British Healthcare Industries (ABHI) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Collaboration with Health and Safety Laboratory |
| Organisation | Health and Safety Laboratory |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | As a result of theoretical work and empirical work done on D04863X and EP/F02942X/1, the Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) became interested in Kevin Daniels' research. Kevin Daniels now has status as a special scientific advisor to HSL and has conducted basic and policy research with HSL, some of which has been funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and involves collaboration with the consultancy Kendall Burton |
| Start Year | 2009 |
| Description | East Midlands NHS Innovations Hub |
| Organisation | NHS Innovations East Midlands |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Medilink East Midlands |
| Organisation | East Midlands Medilink |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | National Patient Safety Agency |
| Organisation | NHS England |
| Department | National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Start Year | 2008 |
| Description | Constrained Innovation: Research and Development in High-Risk, Regulated and Extreme Environments |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Day long workshop entitled 'Constrained Innovation: Research and Development in High-Risk, Regulated and Extreme Environments', with audience of post-grad students, NHS innovation hub managers, academic engineers, social scientists and ergonomists. Speakers came from University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, Loughborough University (Design School and Business School), Grenoble School of Management, University of Manchester, Cranfield University. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Constrained innovation: How designers innovate within the boundaries of safety. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | Summary of major parts of project presented at workshop organised by project team, and including presenters from academia and industry. Presentation as part of a day long workshop entitled 'Constrained Innovation: Research and Development in High-Risk, Regulated and Extreme Environments', with audience of post-grad students, NHS innovation hub managers, academic engineers, social scientists and ergonomists. Speakers came from University of Warwick, University of Birmingham, Loughborough University (Design School and Business School), Grenoble School of Management, University of Manchester, Cranfield University. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Dealing with Safety, Risks and Innovation in High-Risk sectors: The Practitioners' View |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Day long workshop involving speakers from Health and Safety Laboratory, Morgan Ashurst, University of Liverpool and the project team, with an audience including academics, post-graduate students. NHS workers and industrialists. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | Designing for innovation and safety: How can medical device designers do both? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary of project presented to Chief Executives of UK Medilinks. Each region had a Medilink, funded in 2008-10, by the regional development authorities to faciliate commercialisation of medical technologies in the private sector. The presentation, made by a researcher with extensive practical experience of design engineering and managing design engineers, outlined the practical implications to the Chief Executives of the Medilinks. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Designing for innovation and safety: How medical device designers do both |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary of project presented at workshop to a mixed audience of practitioners and practitioners. Workshop entitled 'Dealing with Safety, Risks and Innovation in High-Risk sectors: The Practitioners' View'. Part of a day long workshop involving speakers from Health and Safety Laboratory, Morgan Ashurst, University of Liverpool and the project team, with an audience including academics, post-graduate students. NHS workers and industrialists. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | For innovative solutions that stick |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Post-it notes with tag line for major findings from project "For innovative solutions that stick Invest effort in searching for ideas and talk to others who know what you don't" and url to freely downloadable guidebook from the research. The post-it notes were produced for distribution in the conference pack of the Association of British Healthcare Industries Conference, November, 2009: The aim was to reach a wide number of industry stakeholders and provide links to a resource from the research. The post-its notes were also distributed to industrial collaborators, participating organisations and through workshops organised at Loughborough. Post-its have also been distributed to organisations involved in other research. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
| Description | How Does Work Cause Stress 24th March 2010 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was Kevin Daniels' inaugral lecture at Loughborough. Using theoretical work done on the fluid nature of job design, and how workers use resources embedded in their job design to solve problems from grants D04863X and EP/F02942X/1, Daniels argued for more recognition of worker agency in regulating their own well-being in policy and practice. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Training course on problem-solving in engineering design |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Drawing on work done for D04863X and EP/F02942X/1, Kevin Daniels developed a workshop on cognitive, behavioural and social factors in design engineering problem-solving. The workshop was developed from work done for D04863X and EP/F02942X/1. The training workshop covered the cognitive, behavioural and social factors in design engineering problem-solving. As well as findings from the research and problem-solving tools, attendees worked through case studies developed from the research. The workshop was for post-grad students and researchers at Loughborough in engineering and design. It ran 3 times until Kevin Daniels took up a post at UEA. Unknown impact on trainees. Course developed and delivered to managers (exec and p/t MBAs) and police officers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
| Description | Using science and practice to improve policy. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Scientific meeting (conference/symposium etc.) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk about dynamic aspects of job design, and how findings in this area can be used to support improved policy and government guidance on improving workplaces. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Work and psychological well-being |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The podcast is an on-line seminar concerning the design of jobs and how it relates to workers' well-being and aspects of performance, such as problem-solving, learning and innovation. The seminar is informed by theoretical progress made in worker agency in shaping the content of their own work projects D04863X and EP/F02942X/1 and other related projects. Unknown |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |