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SAFETY MOMENT, AUGUST 23

Know what complacency looks like

Safety moment, August 23

Know what complacency looks like

Complacency is not laziness. It catches skilled, experienced people, because doing a job over and over without getting hurt makes the danger feel smaller than it is. The hazards have not changed, only our attention has. That gap is where shortcuts, missed steps and nasty surprises happen.

SAFETY MOMENT

August 23

The hazard

Complacency is not laziness. It catches skilled, experienced people, because doing a job over and over without getting hurt makes the danger feel smaller than it is. The hazards have not changed, only our attention has. That gap is where shortcuts, missed steps and nasty surprises happen.

The action

Complacency is feeling so comfortable with a task that you stop paying attention to the risks. It looks like skipping a step because it is always fine, leaving off PPE for a quick job or not checking equipment because it worked yesterday. If you catch yourself thinking 'I could do this in my sleep,' that is your cue to slow down.

ASK THE CREW

Which jobs do we do so often that we might be running on autopilot?

From the talk: Complacency. Read it in full, free, with the questions and the sign-in sheet.

HOW TO USE IT

How to give a safety moment

  1. Gather the crew where they work, before the shift or the meeting starts. Read the hazard out loud.
  2. Ask the question and let two or three people answer. What they say about their own work counts for more than what you read.
  3. Name the action and point to one place on today's job where it applies, so everyone knows what to do differently.
  4. Write the date and the names on a sign-in sheet.

A safety moment is short and does not replace the full talk. When you want to go through a topic with the crew, pick a free toolbox talk.

PRINT AND EDIT

365 safety moments, $29

One moment for every day of the year in the same format as this one: the hazard, the action, the question and the source talk with its citation. Print a page a day or show a slide.

  • 365 safety moments, one per day
  • Dated PDF calendar, a page a day
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  • English and Spanish
  • Each moment links back to its cited toolbox talk

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Free 52-week toolbox talk calendar (PDF)