Human Factors Archives - Page 9 of 19 - Situational Awareness Matters!™

Preview of the Task Fixation Chapter of My New Smart Workers Book (Episode 289)

Leave a Comment / Assumptions, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Cognitive Memory, Command Location, Communications, Confabulation, Confusion, Decision Making, Distractions and Interruptions, Equipment, Expectations, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Information overload, Lost Focus, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Pre Arrival Lens, Radios, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Selective Listening, Sensory Conflict, Shared Mental Models, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Technology, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I preview the chapter on Task Fixation from my new book, How Smart Workers Use Situational Awareness to Improve Safety. Length: 33 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher […]

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Preview of the Auditory Exclusion Chapter of My New Smart Workers Book (Episode 288)

In this episode, I preview the chapter on Auditory Exclusion from my new book, How Smart Workers Use Situational Awareness to Improve Safety. Length: 27 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk decision making to a higher

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The Two Headed Incident Commander

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Attention Management, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Leadership, Safety, Situational awareness, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

A subscriber to the Situational Awareness Matters newsletter sent me a photograph of an emergency incident scene that caused me to reflect on a very important situational awareness lesson. This lesson, unfortunately, is often overlooked and is often implicated as a contributing factor to near-miss and casualty events. Let’s spend a little time examining workload

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The Challenge of Disengagement

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Article, Bravado, Emotions, Fear, Human Factors, Intuition, Neuroscience, Perception, Prediction, Repetition / Rich Gasaway

Why is it so hard to let go of a decision or an action once we have committed ourselves to it? As I think back on my life, it is easy for me to identify a number of times where my situational awareness eroded and it led to bad decisions. I can attribute a number

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Coffee Talk with Carl Potter from The Safety Institute (Episode 285)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Benchmarks, Biases, Cognitive Memory, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Crew Resource Management, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Equipment, Expectations, Experience, Goals, Gut Feeling, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Leadership, Mental Models, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Multitasking, Muscle Memory, Near Miss, Optimism, Over Confident, Overload, Overwhelm, Perception Of Reality, Personal Protective Equipment, Personnel location, Risk, Risk Assessment, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Shared Mental Models, Situational awareness, Staffing, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Task Fixation, Task Saturation, Teamwork, Technology, Time Distortion, Training, Tunnel Vision, Tunneled Senses, Vigilance, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

In this episode, I am interviewed on the Coffee Talk Show with Carl Potter, founder of The Safety Institute. The Safety Institute is a resource for organizations that want to create workplaces where it’s difficult to get hurt. Length: 68 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you

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Using the Simulation Environment to Improve Situational Awareness

11 Comments / Article, Communications, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Human Behavior, Human Factors, Information overload, Mental Models, Neuroscience, Safety, Simulation, Situational awareness, Stress, Technology, Training, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

Many first responder training programs use simulation in the development of decision-making competencies. Simulation exercises help develop skills in setting strategy and tactics, in applying policies and procedures and in developing critical thinking skills. How can simulations be used in the development of situational awareness skills? The answer lies, in part, in understanding what situational

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Life and Death Matters – Chris and Sam Adams Interview – Part 2 (Episode 283)

Leave a Comment / Accountability, Assumptions, Attitude, Benchmarks, Biases, Bravado, Communications, Competency, Complacency, Culture, Decision Making, Emotions, Experience, Explicit Knowledge, Goals, Gut Feeling, Habits, Human Behavior, Human Error, Human Factors, Judgment, Leadership, Mindfulness, Miscommunications, Mission, Pressure, Progress Reports, Repetition, Safety, SAMatters Radio, Situational awareness, Situational Readiness, Standard Operating Procedures/Guidelines, Stress, Teamwork, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

This episode is part 2 of a 2-part interview with Chris and Sam Adams discussing their book, Life and Death Matters: Professionalism and Decision-Making for the First Responder. Length: 48 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

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Life and Death Matters – Chris and Sam Adams Interview – Part 1 (Episode 282)

This episode is part 1 of a 2-part interview with Chris and Sam Adams discussing their book, Life and Death Matters: Professionalism and Decision-Making for the First Responder. Length: 42 minutes Click the YouTube icon to watch the full VIDEO __________________________________________________ If you are interested in taking your understanding of situational awareness and high-risk

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Task Saturation Impacts Situational Awareness

1 Comment / Article, Attention Management, Checklists, Crew Resource Management, Decision Making, Emotions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Information overload, Safety, Situational awareness, Staffing, Stress, Task Saturation, Workload Management / Rich Gasaway

There’s no doubt that in dynamically changing, high-risk, high-consequence environments someone could be called upon to perform many varied tasks, some at the same time. When staffing levels are low, the likelihood of this situation increases significantly. The problem this creates is the brain does not perform well when task saturated, especially in stressful situations.

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Selective Listening Can Be A Barrier To Situational Awareness

3 Comments / Article, Attention Management, Auditory exclusion, Distractions and Interruptions, Firefighter Situational Awareness, Human Factors, Information overload, Multitasking, Selective Listening / Rich Gasaway

Because first responders frequently operate in environments where there are multiple auditory inputs (e.g., radio traffic, face-to-face communications, ambient sounds, etc.) they are often forced to prioritize what they listen to (or don’t listen to). This can cause issues with situational awareness.

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