Workplace Communication: Unconventional Safety Hazards
You know about safety — it has been ingrained in all of us and, in case you forget, you can refer to posters, manuals and systems. You have become situationally object-aware: wipe up spills, move hazardous objects, don’t stand on the top rung of the ladder. There are times you even challenge the age-old adage “but we’ve always done it this way,” or “that’s the way it’s been done in the past and it works, so why change it?”
Fighting for the status quo and other mental mindsets can cause lapses in safety and contribute to rework, misunderstandings, incidents or even accidents. Think about it: our brains are not wired to attend consciously to more than one activity at a time. You cannot split your brain in half or in thirds or in quarters to actively and simultaneously perform tasks that require you to comprehend, process information, analyze, assess and/or make sound decisions. If you are not aware of what you are seeing, reading, doing or even thinking, your brain will not register it and you will not remember. Have you ever forgotten what you read shortly after you read it? Or not been sure where you left something (my glasses are top on my list — keys and glasses are common with my clients)? Could these actions be considered safety hazards?
Your frame of mind is the largest factor in maintaining a strong safety culture. Knowing what you are thinking, what you are reacting to, and how your actions affect others can reveal gaps in the safety error chain. Assumptions can cause you to skim over details or tune out the opinions of others; biases can discount the validity or accuracy of discussions, opinions and advice.
When you are in a bad mood, you think negative or irritating thoughts. Anger or any level of anger such as irritation, annoyance, frustration, being upset, outrage or being irate, causes your risk assessment to lean toward optimistic. That is, when you are angry you are more likely to take risks, confident that you will not fail. You drive recklessly, your actions are more forceful (slamming things instead of putting them down normally), and are quick to get defensive. Fear or elements of fear (anxiety, worry, uneasiness, apprehension, shock or panic) result in pessimistic risk assessments — you don’t try because you don’t believe you will be successful. “Why should I bother?” and “What’s the use?” are typical responses in this state of mind.
These common factors (in no particular order) can and will influence what you think, what you feel and ultimately what you do. All can be unconscious behaviors or they can be deliberate and focused actions.
1. After effects of disagreements, unhappy situations
These are things like reprimands, performance evaluations and schedules. Contrary to what you might believe whole heartedly, once an emotionally-charged situation has ended, you don’t forget it immediately and completely. This occurs with events both positively charged (good news such as a promotion for you or a family member, clean or improved bill of health, loan approval or anything that brings excitement and/or a smile to your face) and negatively charged (bad financial news, disappointing medical news, unwanted personal change of plans, etc.). While you are in this elevated state, your body has already reacted (faster heart rate, increased blood flow to your arms and legs, cortisol rushing around your brain) and it can take up to four hours for your body to return to ‘normal’. Four hours! That is half a day when your body continues to experience the after-effects of one situation.
If you are a people person, you will fret over possible damage to your relationship. If you are a task person, you will focus on the quality and accuracy of the topic being discussed. (The other person was incorrect in their assessment and would not yield the exactness and precision required). From last month’s article, the “I’m too busy to …” and “That’s just the way he/she is …” can spark immediate and long-lasting after effects.
2. Distractions
This is one of NBAA Safety Committee’s top safety focus areas (http://www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/top-safety-focus-areas/). Distractions can be those events described in the above bullet point, or they can be any activity that draws your attention away from your current task. Your mind is wired to notice activity — anything moving — and to investigate it, determining if the action will hurt you or not. Distractions can be physical (several people leaving the hangar at the same time) or mental (replaying a situation in your mind). Both of these are not directly tied to what you are doing, yet they pull your attention away from your current task. Your actions can stop while you are distracted, or you can continue working and not paying attention to your actions. As a result, you can over respond; we’ve all seen movies where the waitress is over filling a cup of coffee because she is looking elsewhere. You may be typing and have your fingers on the wrong keys or not be in a typeable textbox and need to redo that work. Anytime you ask yourself “What was I thinking?”, the answer will fall into the Distraction category.
3. Disruptions
Disruption events are like driving a stick-shift car; they force you to switch mental gears and refocus your attention on another task or area of concern. Think of it as standing in a completely dark room for several minutes, then flipping on a light; your eyes need time to adjust. Disruptions affect your thinking and focus in the same manner. You need a few seconds (or micro-seconds) to switch your focus from one activity to another. When you go back to your original task, it takes longer to get the point to where you left off because you have to backtrack and reorient yourself to where you were. Other common disruptions are electronic interruptions: texts or emails you feel you need to respond to immediately; a phone call (even though you don’t answer it, if you take the time to stop working and see who it is), or a colleague, crew member, boss or passenger approaching you and asking you a question. Whether you actually stop what you are doing and turn to them (not wanting to be rude) or continue working on the task and answering them, your mind has had to switch gears. That is another disruption. The “Mr./Ms. Know It All” (from one of my recent articles) can be an unlimited source of this disruption.
4. Feeling own experience is under-valued
When you express your views based on your experience, you expect others to listen to you and give your ‘advice’ serious consideration. When you feel this has not happened, you begin to rationalize and find fault with those who have (in your mind) ignored you. This leads to your criticizing and nit-picking their current actions along with their past decisions. (“This is not the first time he has ignored me”, “He knew I had done that before and he made his decision without my input.”) Referring to earlier articles in this series, some people will feel this way because they have a strong need to be in control. They equate ‘following their advice’ to ‘understanding who has authority’. As you replay the situation in your mind, your attention becomes focused on the conversation that may or may not have actually occurred. A self-feeding frenzy, your actions will mirror your thoughts. This internal conversation could end with, “Well if that’s what they think, then that’s what I’ll do.”
5. Complacency
Performing routine tasks mindlessly lulls you into a sense of security and allows your thoughts to wander. It happens when you have no challenge or no incentive to improve processes or procedures. Your mind is in a ‘maintaining the status quo’ stance where you are watching to be sure your work is completed. You feel confident that you have done everything properly and might believe that the final testing is just a formality — just another box to check. You don’t look for abnormalities, and as a result you might not see them.
All the above events have the ability to take your mind off your current task and onto other situations that you want to be resolved. You thought they were resolved but are not. The only way to focus attention back on the task at hand, and return to the high level safety culture you promote, is to acknowledge and accept the situation and everyone’s behaviors.
How do you reorient your thoughts and bring your mind, or the minds of your crew, back to the present?
1. Allow others to contribute and engage them in a discussion. Sometimes all it takes is sharing your thinking aloud to engage your team members to find a better way, collaborate, clear up misunderstandings or even help one another through a difficult time. The end result is a less cluttered and a more focused mindset.
2. Challenge them with higher expectations. Be clear on what you need and in what they have a ‘free hand.’ This allows their minds to think creatively while they are performing the tasks you would like to see improved.
3. Know what sets them off, what inspires them and what keeps them enthusiastic. Your team members view their jobs as more than a paycheck — show them you understand what they need. Referring back to my earlier articles, is it the fear of using incorrect procedures and making a mistake? Is it the perceived loss of control? Is it being included and feeling like they are a part of the team? Is it being the go-to person?
Talk aloud as you are working. Talk about what you are doing, why you are doing it — anything related to work. While keeping your mind focused on your actions, you will not be able to regurgitate past negative situations.
Remember that accidents, incidents and unwanted outcomes result from a string of safety lapses and not from a single mistake. By realizing that any behavior that transfers your thinking and your focus away from what you are doing (whether it be driving your car, walking through the hangar, interacting with people or working on the aircraft) has the potential to create a safety infraction, you are better prepared to suppress unproductive thoughts and rise to a higher level of safety and service.
Dr. Shari Frisinger is President of CornerStone Strategies LLC, and her doctoral dissertation linked crisis handling with interpersonal situational awareness. Raising personal awareness of potentially disruptive or unsafe behaviors before they occur is the focus of her human factors and TEM behavioral programs that give her clients the tools to influence, empower and motivate, easing conflict, enhancing safety and elevating service. She is a member of NBAA’s Safety Committee, an NBAA PDP provider and an adjunct faculty member facilitating leadership courses. She has presented CRM/HF to numerous flight departments and aviation companies. For more information, visit www.ShariFrisinger.comor call (281) 992-4136.