Postgraduate Diploma in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors
Online 800-hour Postgraduate Diploma in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors. 8 modules covering Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 (investigation of civil aviation accidents), ICAO Annex 13 (accident and incident investigation) and NVivo. Assigned tutor and open enrolment.
Postgraduate Diploma in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors — studying from New Zealand
Health engineering in New Zealand covers medical devices, biomechanics, rehabilitation technology and occupational safety, with significant activity in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The Medsafe regulator within the Ministry of Health oversees medical device approval, and the Accident Compensation Corporation plays a central role in workplace injury prevention and safety. Biomechanics research is supported by university groups and by the country's strong sports science community.
Fees for New Zealand: NZ$3,550 (New Zealand dollar), with instalments and employer sponsorship available.
Relevant bodies in New Zealand
Typical roles
Questions from New Zealand
Will this qualification be recognised by Engineering New Zealand in New Zealand?
Engineering New Zealand is the professional body for engineers here and runs the Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) pathway. SEIUM's qualifications are private qualifications, not official state degrees, and are not accredited by any national body. Recognition for any purpose is decided by the employer or the relevant body, so check with them before relying on it for registration.
Would a biomechanics or wearables background help me find work in New Zealand?
Interest in wearables and workplace safety exists across New Zealand's health technology, rehabilitation, sport science and occupational health sectors. Whether an employer values a SEIUM qualifications depends on the employer's own assessment of your skills and experience. A portfolio of applied projects is often what carries the most weight in hiring decisions.
Can I study this while working full time in New Zealand?
Yes. The programme is fully online and taught in English, so you can study from anywhere, including from home, and you do not need a student visa for that. Master's programmes total 1,900 hours, postgraduate diplomas 800 hours and specialist courses 300 hours, with an assigned technical tutor. Fees can be paid in instalments, and employer sponsorship is possible.
Take the controls.
Run a real engineering trade-off from this field. Move the sliders, watch the model react in real time and beat the challenge.
What you will be able to do
Explain the role of the human factor in the origin of incidents.
Apply cognitive interview techniques to witnesses and those involved.
Identify cognitive biases of the investigator and of those involved.
Analyse organisational factors using Reason's model and HFACS.
Apply structured cause analysis methods.
Collect and preserve evidence systematically.
Formulate recommendations that generate organisational learning.
Who it's for
- Accident and incident investigator who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Human factors specialist who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Safety management systems manager who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Occupational health and safety technician who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Operational safety auditor who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Safety culture consultant who wants to specialise in Interviews, Biases and Organisational Factors.
- Engineering or science graduates looking to enter aviation.
What you'll work with
- Regulation (EU) No 996/2010 (investigation of civil aviation accidents)
- ICAO Annex 13 (accident and incident investigation)
- Regulation (EU) No 376/2014 (reporting of occurrences in civil aviation)
- ICAO Doc 9859 (Safety Management Manual)
- ISO 45001 (occupational health and safety)
- Directive 2012/18/EU (Seveso III)
- ISO 31000 (risk management)
8 modules · 800 h
1.1Human error: slips, lapses, mistakes and violations1.2Reason's Swiss cheese model1.3HFACS classification of human factors1.4Sociotechnical systems and Rasmussen's model1.5Just culture and accountability1.6Normalisation of deviance and drift towards failure1.7Safety-I and Safety-II1.8Performance factors: fatigue, stress and workload1.9Latent factors versus active failures1.10Case study: reading the report of an industrial accident
2.1Planning interviews in an investigation2.2Cognitive interview and its phases2.3Building trust and rapport2.4Open, closed and leading questions2.5Witness memory and its deterioration2.6Interviews with victims and affected persons2.7Interviews with managers and senior management2.8Use of visual evidence during the interview2.9Recording and transcribing testimonies2.10Practice: simulated cognitive interview
3.1Heuristics and fast and slow thinking systems3.2Hindsight bias in investigation3.3Outcome bias and judgement of decision3.4Investigator confirmation bias3.5Fundamental attribution and individual blame3.6Biases in witnesses: conformity and contamination3.7Group biases and groupthink3.8Debiasing techniques: devil's advocate and premortem3.9Reconstructing local rationality3.10Workshop: detecting biases in an investigation report
4.1Structure, roles and lines of authority4.2Production pressure and conflicting objectives4.3Resource management and subcontracting4.4Communication and information transfer4.5Safety supervision and leadership4.6Procedures: design, use and deviations4.7Competence and training4.8Organisational change management4.9Safety culture: Hudson's model4.10Case study: organisational factors at Texas City
5.1Timeline and sequence of events5.2Barrier analysis5.3Cause tree and the 5 whys method5.4ICAM method5.5AcciMap for complex systems5.6STAMP and CAST analysis5.7Human factors analysis with HFACS5.8Selecting the method according to the incident5.9Validating conclusions with participants5.10Practice: AcciMap of a maintenance incident
6.1Scene preservation and volatile information6.2Physical, documentary and digital evidence6.3Control system and alarm records6.4Photography and sketches6.5Chain of custody6.6Review of procedures and work permits6.7Analysis of shifts, schedules and fatigue6.8Triangulation of sources6.9Document management of the investigation6.10Laboratory: analysis of alarm logs
7.1Hierarchy of effectiveness of corrective actions7.2SMART recommendations7.3Actions on organisational factors7.4Follow-up and closure of actions7.5Dissemination of lessons learned7.6Organisational learning and double-loop learning7.7Communicating the report to different audiences7.8Investigation of near misses7.9Indicators of learning effectiveness7.10Workshop: writing recommendations for a report
8.1Incident selection and scope8.2Investigation plan8.3Interview script8.4Reconstruction of the sequence8.5Human and organisational factors analysis8.6Review of team biases8.7Recommendations and action plan8.8Final investigation report8.9Written report and presentation8.10Final review with the tutor
How you'll learn
Fully 100% online training on the SEIUM campus, with downloadable material, recorded classes and an assigned technical tutor. No fixed timetables: students progress at their own pace within the intake, which makes it possible to combine study with work.
Each module combines theory, guided reading of the original standard and applied exercises. The working software is NVivo, BowTieXP, TapRooT, Microsoft Visio, Excel advanced, in free, academic or evaluation versions. Practical sessions are based on real cognitive interview procedures with witnesses and those involved, analysis of real accident cases, and cause-analysis workshops with HFACS. Assessment is continuous, module by module, plus the final integrating project.
Build it end to end
Your final project follows the real engineering workflow, step by step, reviewed by your tutor.
Explain the role of the human factor in the origin of incidents.
Apply cognitive interview techniques to witnesses and those involved.
Identify cognitive biases of the investigator and of those involved.
Analyse organisational factors using Reason's model and HFACS.
Apply structured cause analysis methods.
Where this takes you
Requirements
- Prior technical training or professional experience in the sector. No university degree required.
- Internet connection and a computer capable of running the programme's software.
- Sufficient level of Spanish to follow technical regulatory texts.
Ready to start?
Send your application today. Our admissions team replies within 72 hours with your study plan and funding options.
Frequently asked questions
The programme totals 800 hours spread over 6 to 8 months. That is between 10 and 15 hours a week on average, compatible with a full-time job.
The programme works with NVivo, BowTieXP, TapRooT, Microsoft Visio and advanced Excel. Free, academic or evaluation versions are used, and the tutor indicates the free alternative where one exists.
An own SEIUM diploma upon passing continuous assessment and the integrating project. It is in-house training, not an official title from the Ministry.
Yes. Modules passed in a course or postgraduate diploma in the same area are recognised in the higher programme. Check the recognition policy when you enrol.
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