Danger in the routine: Strive for awareness in every day tasks

This has happened to you. Get in the car. Drive to work. Arrive at work. Wonder how you got there.

You may have no memory at all of the trip you take every day.

When you do the same tasks many times, awareness of the moment may slip away. It might not be so important if you are vacuuming the rug, but situational awareness is crucial in the workplace.

Routines are actually good for productivity and performance. For example, workers routinely don their personal protection gear, check into work, get started on their jobs. According to a 2011 study by Hebrew University, this type of routine behavior confers feelings of safety and confidence.

But the reality is that even routine tasks have different hazards and risks every day, and a feeling of safety can be misleading.

This was first noticed in 1935 in the aerospace industry. The most experienced pilots were introduced to new, more complex aircraft. Flying a plane was routine, but as the pilots concentrated on the dials and lights of new technology, suddenly there were a series of crashes.

According to Susan L. Koen, CEO of RoundtheClock Resources, it turned out that the pilots completely forgot to attend to basic protocols of aircraft operation. In response, Boeing developed a checklist to be completed by pilot and co-pilot before takeoff.

Koen told Safety and Health Magazine, “It’s not the step-by-step checklist alone that produces performance reliability in aviation. Rather, it’s the recognition among pilots that they’re fallible. It’s the commitment to not operate from memory, because human memory is not reliable.”
According to Colorado insurance group Circa, individuals should take personal responsibility for safety in the workplace. Don’t assume safety is someone else’s job. Personally respond to unsafe situations and help others with potentially hazardous tasks.

Take note of the work conditions and the people around you.

Don’t take shortcuts. Shortcuts introduce a new risk into a routine task.