The Biological Basis of Complacency

BIO – Sharon is a certified Gamification for Training Developer, a certified CBT for insomnia instructor, speaker, and TV personality. Author of “365 Ways to Live Generously: Simple Habits for a Life That’s Good for You and for Others”, a daily book that helps people create the habits that will get them healthy in body, mind, and spirit.

Holder of a Guinness World Record for the Longest Line of Toothbrushes—3.5 miles! This charity event collected 55,000 toothbrushes and 17,000 tubes of toothpaste for Colorado children.

Sharon is dedicated to helping teams become happier, healthier, and safer at home and at work.

Sharon Lipinski is the Habit SuperHero and CEO of Habit Mastery Consulting (www.habitmasteryconsulting.com), which helps organizations increase their targeted safety behavior by up to 150%.

DESCRIPTION – The Biological Basis of ComplacencyComplacency is often attributed to an employee’s mental or emotional state, so the advice for tackling complacency often revolves around reminding employees to think about what they’re doing or creating a better safety culture so employees won’t take any shortcuts to begin with. It’s advice that relies heavily on fixing employees’ sense of responsibility and attention to details.

While those things may all be true, those are symptoms— not the root cause. Cutting edge neuroscience research suggests that complacency is actually rooted in which brain structures the brain activates while performing its activities. By basing complacency fighting strategies in the biological reality of how the brain functions, OSH professionals can more effectively prevent complacency from posing a risk to their employees’ safety.

This presentation reviews the neurological process that leads to complacency, shares the results of a survey of OSH professionals on the scope of complacency in their organizations, and reveals what OSH professionals say has actually worked for them in reducing the prevalence of complacency in their organization.

At the end of this presentation, OSH professionals will be able to assess the efficacy of complacency fighting strategies based on this paradigm shifting explanation of the biological basis of complacency.