as current Chair of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) Technical Group on Healthcare. It provides a collection of papers to illustrate current research which is helping to introduce and implement Ergonomics (Human Factors) theory and practice into healthcare. A previous special issue of Ergonomics (Edworthy et al. 2006) included a wide range of Human Factors contributions to the area of patient safety, from systems (macro-ergonomics) analyses to specific, relatively contained interactions and interfaces (micro-ergonomics). This special issue, 10 years later, provides a similar range of macro and micro topics as well as discussions about the location of HFE input (upstream/ downstream) and a greater consideration of obstacles to the use of HFE in practice (rather than research). We are intentionally using 'Human Factors' and 'Ergonomics' interchangeably in this editorial to reflect the international use of both terms in healthcare. Some countries such as UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand include both in the name of professional societies/institutes, whilst most non-English speaking countries use 'Ergonomics'. In our reflection of the past 10 years, we comment on the progress (or lack) for embedding Human Factors in healthcare practice, technology and changing culture. Our much missed colleague, Professor Bob Wears reflected on this (and other topics) in 2015, suggesting that the lack of progress may be due to 'medicalization' , where a certain school of thought among health professionals-managed to take it [patient safety] over, displacing other forms of scientific and professional activity, and turning it from a reformist movement to a conventional, business-as-usual activity, ironically with the best of intentions.