About
The Human Factor
A human factors practice for organizations where decisions under pressure are the job. Led by Scott Ramey, with a bench of associates.
The practice
Who we are
The Human Factor helps emergency services, healthcare and other high-consequence organizations get the people side of their systems right. We work where people, technology and the organization meet: deciding where AI belongs and how to govern it, building assessments and plans that hold up in real operations, and helping services learn from serious events without searching for someone to blame.
Principles
What we believe
Start with the people doing the work
Every engagement begins with how decisions are actually made, not how the policy says they are.
Evidence before enthusiasm
We draw on published human factors and safety science, and we are honest about what it does not yet show.
Say where technology should not go
Every AI engagement includes a Do Not Touch list. Knowing where not to automate is as valuable as knowing where to.
Independent advice
We declare any relevant commercial interest in writing before work begins. The Human Factor is independent of the University of Waterloo and of any employer.
Principal
Scott Ramey
Scott Ramey has spent thirty years inside high-consequence systems, first as a critical care flight paramedic, then as a Deputy Chief in both paramedic and fire services, and as an Assistant Fire Chief. He knows what decisions look like when the information is incomplete, the clock is running, and the outcome matters. He has also led the quieter work that determines whether those decisions get easier or harder over time: accreditation, quality systems, strategic planning, and technology adoption.
At the University of Waterloo, Scott is a PhD candidate in Systems Design Engineering. His human factors research examines trust calibration and appropriate reliance in AI-assisted decision support, applied to emergency services, healthcare, and other high-risk, high-reliability fields.
The combination is deliberate. Scott is an operator who moved into human factors research. Clients get advice that is grounded in evidence, tested against operational reality, and honest about where technology should not go.
Background
- Master of Science in Healthcare Quality, Queen's University
- Bachelor of Health Sciences, Medicine Hat College
- PhD candidate, Systems Design Engineering (Human Factors), University of Waterloo
- Certified Healthcare Executive; Certified Municipal Manager III (Executive)
- Peer assessor, Commission on Fire Accreditation International
- Governor General's Emergency Medical Services Exemplary Service Medal; King Charles III Coronation Medal
The team
Our associates
Associates are independent specialists who join an engagement when their expertise fits the work. Scott leads every engagement and stays accountable for it. The team around him is shaped to the problem, and you always know who is doing the work.
Where we are
Based in Waterloo, Ontario, and working with organizations across Canada and North America. See where Scott is speaking next on the events page.
Contact
Start with a conversation
Thirty minutes, no charge. Tell us what you are working on. Please do not send personal health information, or details that could identify a person or an event.