Safe dispensing in community pharmacies: Applying the software, hardware, environment and liveware (SHELL) model

The human aspects of the community pharmacy work system are vulnerable to medication-related errors. Established models of human error can identify actual or potential hazards, and are important in our understanding the interaction between human and system factors that influence performance. The software, hardware, environment and liveware (SHELL) model, a traditional human factors framework, is used in this article to classify potential sources of error in community pharmacies. A thorough review of the literature identified 50 risk factors which were categorised according to the dimensions of the SHELL model, which focuses on the system in which the pharmacist works, rather than individual performance. This model uses a systematic approach to examine mismatches at the interface between the human and the components of the system that are potential sources of error. The application of this model to hazard identification and error reduction in community pharmacy is explored