May 9, 2014
On this episode we’ll talk about…
1.Habits, routines and complacency.
2.We will look at a near-miss event where tunnel vision and complacency may have flawed situational awareness.
3.And we will address a question from an SAMatters community member about how to make mayday training more realistic.
FEATURE TOPIC
We all know we have habits. Some of them are good habits. And some of them are…well… not so good. The less often talked about cousin of a habit is a routine. Habits and routines can definitely impact your situational awareness in both good and bad ways.
But where do habits and routines come from? Does a habit turn into a routine? Or does a routine turn into a habit? Do habits and routines prevent complacency or do they contribute to complaceny? All good questions. Let’s explore habits, routines and complacency.
Habits
Webster defines a habit as: A behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance; an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary.
Routines
Webster further defines a routine as a habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure.
So, by definition, routines are habits formed from following established procedures. Thus, by definition then, habits are only routines when they are formed from following procedures. But we have many habits that are formed while not following formally established procedures.
The chicken or the egg
The definitions offer up the age-old, or should I say the “egg old” question: What came first, the chicken or the egg? In the context of this topic, the question is: Do habits form routines or do routines form habits? An argument could be made for either to come first. Your routines can become your comfortable habits. Your habits can be developed into formal routines.
Enter complacency
Webster defines complacency as: Self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies. It is very unfortunate that complacency has turned into a habit for some workers. Some have become satisfied and comfortable in doing things in ways that are dangerous to the point they have become unaware (or arguably, uncaring) about the dangers. The dangers are no longer seen as dangerous. This can have catastrophic consequences.
Contagious complacency
A complacent worker can “infect” other workers as well. When this happens, the consequences can be significant. In fact, an entire work group can become complacent. And worst of all, an entire department or organization can become complacent. When this happens, the workers can sink into a comfortable rut and become arrogant.
When this happens, employees can begin to believe they are so good at what they do that bad outcomes will never happen to them… because they never have. The success of past outcomes can contribute to complacency, especially when risky behavior is rewarded (seemingly) with good outcomes). When workers perform in ways that are not consistent with best practices – and get away with it (i.e., no bad outcome) – it can build their confidence that is based in luck, not ability.
False confidence
When workers experience successful outcomes, this builds confidence. This, unto itself, is not a bad thing so long as the success was based on performance that is consistent with best practices. However, all success builds confidence. Meaning success resulting from luck also builds confidence, albeit a false confidence.
Psychologists that study the behavior of gamblers see this all the time. A gambler wins because they seemingly have some “strategy” for beating the odds – the mathematical probabilities of risk and return. Their success gives them confidence which can, in turn, increase their risk taking.
Over the long run, a gambler who thinks they can beat the odds is likely going to lose… a lot. But not every gambler is a loser over the long run. There is a small number whose luck runs longer than others and certain games are based on the strategy of one player versus another… and of course… the ability to “bluff” your opponent. But there’s no bluffing dangerous machinery or hazardous environments in the work setting.
Observing workers who have found long term luck can give others workers a false confidence that they too can cheat the system and be successful.
In the end, the casino will win. If you doubt this, only look at the lavishness of a casino. Those structures and fixtures are built on the losses of gamblers whose luck ran out.
Chief Gasaway’s advice
To overcome the curse of complacency, workers must first be aware of the affliction they are facing. This awareness comes from becoming a student of best practices. This involves learning about best practices and comparing what your organization does to other best practices in your profession. Read casualty reports to learn how workers get hurt and killed. Then compare the circumstances, situational awareness and decision making of catastrophic outcomes to how your organization does things.
When you see inconsistencies between established best practices and how your organization does things, it may be time to start asking the hard questions. Why does your organization do things differently than best practices dictate? Have you found a better way to get the job done? Is your better way safe? Or have you just been lucky?
Avoid judging bad outcomes that others experience. Oftentimes when workers read a casualty report they can judge the performance of others without turning that harsh judgment on themselves or on their own organization. We can be lulled into thinking the worker that experienced the bad outcome was less competent where, in fact, maybe their luck ran out.
Discussions
1. Discuss areas where your organization may have become complacent in training or performance.
2. Discuss areas where you have become personally complacent in your application of best practices.
3. Discuss ideas about how to break the cycle of complacency in your organization.
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS NEAR MISS LESSON LEARNED
This lesson comes to us from the Firefighter Near Miss Reporting System, where lessons learned become lessons applied.
COMPLACENCY AND LACK OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS NEARLY DELIVER SHOCKING SURPRISE.
#06-0000435
Saturday, August 19, 2006
We were dispatched for a report of "smoke coming from the grass" on the side of the highway. It was a rainy, humid, and foggy afternoon, so right away we were guessing that it was a motorist who saw fog and thought it was smoke as had been the case many times before. The engine crew responded and initially was unable to locate anything, went in service, and then on their way back to quarters located the smoke. Upon investigating, they found what appeared to be an approximately 18" corrugated metal pipe coming up out of the ground in the grassy area just off the right shoulder of the highway.
The lip of the pipe was only a couple inches above the surface and was near the ditch that ran along the tree line. It appeared to be some sort of sewer pipe, and one side of the lip was bent over like it had been hit or damaged. The crew used a shovel to dig around the pipe and then a pry bar in and around the pipe to bend the lip clear of the opening. They then noticed an extremely large amount of heat coming from the pipe (too hot to touch) and then noticed that the rain water inside the pipe was literally boiling.
They also thought that they felt the ground vibrating slightly around the pipe. As they pondered what they were looking at, our Assistant Chief came on the radio and questioned if it could have anything to do with the highway light poles. Sure enough, the crew looked up, and there was a light pole about 100" away (perpendicular to the highway) and all you could see was the very top of it above the trees. The crew dropped their tools and retrieved the "AC HotStik" from the engine, which indicated that the pipe was in fact energized.
Construction was being done in the area, and a Department of Transportation (DOT) crew was working about a quarter-mile away. They were summoned to the scene. The DOT workers put on their electrical safety gear and used their insulated electrical tools to pull a large wiring harness up and out of the water-filled pipe. They were in the area trying to figure out why the highway lights were not working. This shorting electrical equipment was the reason why.
The DOT workers said that the wiring carried about 480 volts of electricity and is supposed to be buried underground unnoticeable from the surface. The scene was turned over to DOT and the engine crew cleared.
LESSONS LEARNED
When the call went out, complacency reared its ugly head in our thinking that it was just a motorist seeing fog. However, I don’t believe that this contributed to the incident being a "near-miss." The Captain on scene does admit though that there was a bit of tunnel vision on their part in that they saw the pipe and assumed it was some sort of sewer pipe.
It had never crossed their minds that it could be electrical until the Assistant Chief mentioned it on the radio. She credits his intervention with possibly preventing an electrocution had they continued. I think this incident is a good reminder to always be aware of your surroundings.
Don"t be a moth to the flames (or smoke). Look up and around you for anything that could be related to what you"re investigating. This was an unusual event. However, I do believe that voltage-detection devices (i.e. our "AC HotStik") are under-utilized and should be one of the first tools coming off the rig more often during utility emergencies/investigations.
You can visit them at www.FirefighterNearMiss.com
If you have experienced or witnessed a near miss and would like to be interviewed on this show, visit my companion site:
Click on the “contact us” link. Thank you, in advance, for sharing your lessons learned so others may live.
INFORMATION
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SAMatters COMMUNITY Question
This question comes from the Q&A session held at the end of the Training For Failure program.
QUESTION: What can we do to ensure our mayday training program is more realistic?
ANSWER: Thanks Chris for the question. It was easier for me to demonstrate my answer in the webinar because I was able to make sounds that I am not going to be able to replicate here in the newsletter. That aside, one of the ways to make training realistic is to increase the stress level of participants by making the incident look, feel, smell and sound as real as possible.
The example I shared with Chris has to do with simulating a mayday. If you are simulating a crew calling a mayday, then make it sound REAL over the radio.
During your drills, make sure the company that calls a mayday sounds like they are REALLY in distress. Have them give incomplete or partial information as to their whereabouts and why they need help. When they key the radio, have them only give a partial message and then have the radio go silent. Have their voice be so garbled that it is unreadable.
That simple change in radio communications will be enough to raise the stress level of your commander. If you want to see the difference in performance, do it once with regular (non-stressed) voices. Then do it again with stressed communications. I think you'll see two different outcomes.
CLOSING
Thank you for sharing some of your valuable time with me today. I sincerely appreciate your support of my mission.
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Be safe out there. May the peace of the Lord, and strong situational awareness, be with you always.
You have been listening to the Situational Awareness Matters Radio show with Dr. Richard B. Gasaway. If you are interested in learning more about situational awareness, human factors and decision making under stress, visit SAMatters.com.
If you are interested in booking Dr. Gasaway for an upcoming event, visit his personal website at RichGasaway.com
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