Mistakes will always happen in a dispensary; the key is to minimize the chances of errors happening. One of the most important aspects of managing the risk of errors is staff engagement. It is important to instill a risk minimization approach where every member of the team has to play a part in preventing errors.

Errors are usually a result of a chain of events and are not usually caused by a single action. Let's take a carton of 28 amlodipine 10mg tablets, for instance (see diagram below).

From receipt to storage and dispensing, anyone from the shop assistant who greets the driver, the dispenser who puts the carton away, and the patient that receives it, has some risk attached to the process. A 'simple' dispensing process can be associated with numerous risks.