• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

SafetyRisk.net

Humanising Safety and Embracing Real Risk

  • Home
    • About
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact
  • FREE
    • Slogans
      • Researchers Reveal the Top 10 Most Effective Safety Slogans Of All Time
      • When Slogans Don’t Work
      • CLASSIC, FAMOUS and INFAMOUS SAFETY QUOTES
      • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
      • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
      • COVID-19 (Coronavirus, Omicron) Health and Safety Slogans and Quotes for the Workplace
      • Safety Acronyms
      • You know Where You Can Stick Your Safety Slogans
      • Sayings, Slogans, Aphorisms and the Discourse of Simple
      • Spanish Safety Slogans – Consignas de seguridad
      • Safety Slogans List
      • Road Safety Slogans 2023
      • How to write your own safety slogans
      • Why Are Safety Slogans Important
      • Safety Slogans Don’t Save Lives
      • 40 Free Safety Slogans For the Workplace
      • Safety Slogans for Work
    • FREE SAFETY eBOOKS
    • Free Hotel and Resort Risk Management Checklist
    • FREE DOWNLOADS
    • TOP 50
    • FREE RISK ASSESSMENT FORMS
    • Find a Safety Consultant
    • Free Safety Program Documents
    • Psychology Of Safety
    • Safety Ideas That Work
    • HEALTH and SAFETY MANUALS
    • FREE SAFE WORK METHOD STATEMENT RESOURCES
    • Whats New In Safety
    • FUN SAFETY STUFF
    • Health and Safety Training
    • SAFETY COURSES
    • Safety Training Needs Analysis and Matrix
    • Top 20 Safety Books
    • This Toaster Is Hot
    • Free Covid-19 Toolbox Talks
    • Download Page – Please Be Patient With Larger Files…….
    • SAFETY IMAGES, Photos, Unsafe Pictures and Funny Fails
    • How to Calculate TRIFR, LTIFR and Other Health and Safety Indicators
    • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat
  • Social Psychology Of Risk
    • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
    • Safety Psychology Terminology
    • Some Basics on Social Psychology & Risk
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk – Prof Karl E. Weick
    • The Psychology of Leadership in Risk
    • Conducting a Psychology and Culture Safety Walk
    • The Psychology of Conversion – 20 Tips to get Started
    • Understanding The Social Psychology of Risk And Safety
    • Psychology and safety
    • The Psychology of Safety
    • Hot Toaster
    • TALKING RISK VIDEOS
    • WHAT IS SAFETY
    • THE HOT TOASTER
    • THE ZERO HARM DEBATE
    • SEMIOTICS
    • LEADERSHIP
  • Dr Long Posts
    • ALL POSTS
    • Learning Styles Matter
    • There is no Hierarchy of Controls
    • Scaffolding, Readiness and ZPD in Learning
    • What Can Safety Learn From Playschool?
    • Presentation Tips for Safety People
    • Dialogue Do’s and Don’ts
    • It’s Only a Symbol
    • Ten Cautions About Safety Checklists
    • Zero is Unethical
    • First Report on Zero Survey
    • There is No Objectivity, Deal With it!
  • THEMES
    • Risk Myths
    • Safety Myths
    • Safety Culture Silences
    • Safety Culture
    • Psychological Health and Safety
    • Zero Harm
    • Due Diligence
  • Free Learning
    • Introduction to SPoR – Free
    • FREE RISK and SAFETY EBOOKS
    • FREE ebook – Guidance for the beginning OHS professional
    • Free EBook – Effective Safety Management Systems
    • Free EBook – Lessons I Have Learnt
  • Psychosocial Safety
    • What is Psychosocial Safety
    • Psychological Safety
      • What is Psychological Health and Safety at Work?
      • Managing psychosocial hazards at work
      • Psychological Safety – has it become the next Maslow’s hammer?
      • What is Psychosocial Safety
      • Psychological Safety Slogans and Quotes
      • What is Psychological Safety?
      • Understanding Psychological Terminology
      • Psycho-Social and Socio-Psychological, What’s the Difference?
      • Build a Psychologically Safe Workplace by Taking Risks and Analysing Failures
      • It’s not weird – it’s a psychological safety initiative!
You are here: Home / Robert Long / Chronic Unease is Not Enough

Chronic Unease is Not Enough

May 4, 2018 by Dr Rob Long Leave a Comment

Chronic Unease is Not Enough

 

imageThe concept of ‘chronic unease’ has been about in safety for some time. It was unfortunately put forward by Reason as a mindset to tackle complacency. Complacency is rarely well defined and is most associated with: in-alertness, lethargy, laziness, not being careful, inattentiveness, lack of attention and lack of awareness. When the concept is present in most WHS discussion it is poorly understood and tackled simplistically as some kind of ‘state of mind’ that can be chosen or turned on and off.

What is not present in the enthusiasm to grab for yet another simple silver bullet for Safety in the complacency challenge is any discussion on: intuition, the unconscious, the collective unconscious, the social psychology of habit, the psychology of addiction, definition of ‘human mind’, the psychology of perception, knowing, personhood, culture, social influence, semiotics, automaticity, human ‘being’, the nature of heuristics that creates overconfidence, arationality and the fallibility paradox. What a remarkable set of factors to ignore!

Chronic unease is often described as ‘discomfort’ or ‘instinctive wariness’ associated with undertaking a task (https://www.centreforsafety.com.au/research/chronic-unease-state-mind-managing-safety). Chronic unease is sometimes explained as the ‘opposite of complacency’ which of course it isn’t (http://www.risktec.tuv.com/knowledge-bank/technical-articles/chronic-unease—the-hidden-ingredient-in-successful-safety-leadership.aspx). In some cases chronic unease is described as skepticism. The five simple dispositions for chronic unease are: vigilance, worry, pessimism, requisite imagination (yuk Elliot Jacques) and flexible thinking. It is also unfortunate that many wrongly associate the notion of ‘chronic unease’ with Weick’s Collective Mindfulness.

Most of the literature on ‘chronic unease’ is associated with individualism, cognitvism, mechanism and behaviourism. This worldview understands that humans can choose ‘chronic unease’ in the space between stimulus and response. Most of the language associated with ‘chronic unease’ places emphasis on choice, zero harm, swiss cheese, bow tie and individual will. Discussion is often binary quoting Kaheman’s silly notion of the fast and slow brain. Such discussion is remarkably naïve and ignores all the evidence in social psychology that understands decision making as socially situated and often contradicts itself (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ORFsf3QpQ). The language is remarkably shallow and simplistic. So, if one can’t ‘turn on’ chronic unease by choice you have a problem if you chose unsafey.

Chronic unease is described in the language of mindfulness and ‘technique’ to manage cognition yet the basis for efficiency in work is not thinking. The very foundation of efficiency is the development of heuristics. Heuristics are mental shortcuts and habits we form so that we can undertake tasks without thinking. It is important to not confuse this chronic unease sense of mindfulness with either the work of John Kabat Zinn or Karl Weick. The Safety notion of chronic unease has more in common with wishful thinking than the realities of human judgment and decision making (https://www.humandymensions.com/product/risk-makes-sense/).

Rationality takes time, efficiency requires the suspension of rationality to enact actions by hope, faith and trust in heuristics.

Making decisions by heuristics or automaticity has nothing to do with irrational thinking as supposed by Daniel Ariely (Predictably Irrational) but rather ‘arational or non-rational thinking’. If I have faith and trust in someone or hope that things will go well, I am not being irrational or stupid. Non-rational thinking is situated between rational and irrational thinking in a dialectic that is more associated with intuition and tacit knowing (Polanyi). Tacit and implicit knowing is a critical part of human decision making and stands apart from any binary notion of fast and slow thinking. It is much more helpful to understand the process of human decision making as triarchic and dialectic (https://vimeo.com/106770292 ).

One Brain Three Minds from Human Dymensions on Vimeo.

What is it that people actually do to be mindful? What forces do they deny and what actions do they apply? If chronic unease is a cognitive state, what about all the other disciplines in psychology that demonstrate that forces both social and collective are necessary for human functioning to create confidence in the face of risk. What social forces influence complacency?

Risk is: ‘The uncertainty associated with human action and the trust and faith required to suspend uncertainty to take that action’. Complacency is ‘misjudged faith’ not some mysterious state where someone doesn’t care? Indeed, the language of ‘be careful’ and ‘be alert’ is mostly meaningless. So telling someone to ‘be more careful’ or ‘be alert’ is often nothing more than an expression of affection and positive orientation towards another. Unfortunately, such expressions don’t actually help or give you any idea of what one should do. It is simply comical that one can use a risk matrix and get a high risk down to zero by being ‘more careful’ or ‘more alert’, even if one thinks the chronic unease five factor model provides some indicator of what to do.

The more Safety treads down the path of simplicity in understanding human decision making the more it is going to be disappointed. Let’s just explore one factor in the many that are ignored by Safety when it considers ‘chronic unease’.

Something is a habit when it becomes aRational, when it is no longer sensitive to reward and is undertaken automatically. Habits are formed when one stops thinking rationally about what one is doing. Habits are heuristic. We can have good habits like putting on a hard hat without thinking or bad habits like lighting up a cigarette without thinking. Habit formation shares a great deal in common with the psychology of addiction and the social psychology of automaticity. If you have to deliberate about an action then it’s not habitual. Social context ‘primes’ habit.

There is no cognitive turning ‘off’ or ‘on’ when it comes to habit. So how does one ‘turn on’ chronic unease when working efficiently and habitually desires heuristic thinking and decision making in automaticity? Unless there is some consideration for a host of factors currently omitted in the chronic unease silver bullet it is not likely that things will improve.

  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
  • More about Rob
Dr Rob Long

Dr Rob Long

Expert in Social Psychology, Principal & Trainer at Human Dymensions
Dr Rob Long

Latest posts by Dr Rob Long (see all)

  • Not Just Another ‘Hazard’ - February 3, 2023
  • Work-Life and Risk, Feminine Perspectives - February 3, 2023
  • How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety - February 2, 2023
  • Free Download – Real Risk – New Book by Dr Robert Long - February 2, 2023
  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do - February 1, 2023
Dr Rob Long
PhD., MEd., MOH., BEd., BTh., Dip T., Dip Min., Cert IV TAA, MRMIA Rob is the founder of Human Dymensions and has extensive experience, qualifications and expertise across a range of sectors including government, education, corporate, industry and community sectors over 30 years. Rob has worked at all levels of the education and training sector including serving on various post graduate executive, post graduate supervision, post graduate course design and implementation programs.

Please share our posts

  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Robert Long, Social Psychology of Risk, Unconscious Tagged With: Chronic Unease, complacency

Reader Interactions

Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Search and Discover More on this Site

Never miss a post - Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,500 other subscribers

RECOMMENDED READING

viral post – iso 45003 and what it cannot do

Introduction to SPOR – FREE!!

Psychosocial Safety and Mental Health Series

Not Just Another ‘Hazard’

Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?

How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety

ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do

The KISS of Death in Safety

Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health

The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’

The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health

Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)

No Good Reason to Follow Reason

More Posts from this Category

NEW! Free Download

Please take our 2 minute zero survey

Recent Comments

  • Not Simply One other ‘Hazard’ - Personal Safety News on Not Just Another ‘Hazard’
  • Rob Long on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • simon p cassin on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • simon p cassin on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Rob long on How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Rob Long on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Rob Long on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Matt Thorne on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • simon p cassin on Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • Hurak Learning on How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Rob Long on An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Paul Gentles on An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Brent Charlton on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Rob Long on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian Edwin Darlington on The KISS of Death in Safety
  • Brian on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Jaise on The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Rob Long on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Linda McKendry on Posture Myths and Holistic Ergonomics
  • Rob long on Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)

FREE eBOOK DOWNLOADS

Footer

VIRAL POST – The Risk Matrix Myth

Top Posts & Pages. Sad that most are so dumb but this is what safety luves

  • 500 OF THE BEST AND WORST WORKPLACE HEALTH and SAFETY SLOGANS 2023
  • Free Safety Moments and Toolbox Talk Examples, Tips and Resources
  • Road Safety Slogans 2023
  • Proving Safety
  • CATCHY and FUNNY SAFETY SLOGANS FOR THE WORKPLACE
  • NATIONAL SAFETY DAY/WEEK IN INDIA 2023
  • Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • 15 Safety Precautions When Working With Electricity
  • Safety Acronyms
  • Download Safety Moments from Human Resources Secretariat

Recent Posts

  • Not Just Another ‘Hazard’
  • Work-Life and Risk, Feminine Perspectives
  • Psychosocial Safety, Is it possible to make it culturally normal?
  • How to Be Oriented Towards Psychosocial and Mental Health in Safety
  • Free Download – Real Risk – New Book by Dr Robert Long
  • Proving Safety
  • ISO 45003 and What it Cannot Do
  • Harming People in the Name of Good
  • An Advanced Understanding of Culture – A Video
  • Risk and Safety Maturity
  • The KISS of Death in Safety
  • SPoR, Metanoia and a Podcast on Change with Nippin Anand
  • Behavioural Safety is NOT a Foundation for Tackling Psychosocial and Mental Health
  • The Worst Approach to Psychosocial Problems is an Attitude of ‘Fixing’
  • SPoR Comes to Vienna June 2023
  • The Language of ‘Hazards’ and Psychosocial, Mental Health
  • Welcome to the Nightmare, Safety Creates its Own Minefield (as usual)
  • The Visionary Imagination – Louisa Lawson
  • Heaven ‘n Hell and the Safety Religion
  • Confirmity in Conformity
  • Numerology and Psychic Numbing
  • Thinking of Mortality
  • Safety is the Wrong Anchor
  • Foresight Blindness, Hindsight Bias and Risk
  • Getting the Balance Right in Tackling Risk
  • What is SPoR?
  • How Bias Inhibits Learning in Safety
  • Afraid to Let Go of What Doesn’t Work in Safety
  • When You Don’t Know What to do in Safety, Have Another Blitz!!!
  • Gloves and Glasses Compliance
  • A Case of Desensitisation – What Would You Do?
  • How to Leave the Safety Industry
  • The Mythic Symbology of Safety
  • Dark Waters, The True Story of DuPont and Zero
  • 400,000 Free Downloads
  • Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…
  • Don’t Look Now Safety, Your Metaphor is Showing
  • Ratio Delusions and Heinrich’s Hoax
  • To Err is Human, You Better Believe It
  • Culture as a Wicked Problem, for Safety
  • Safety Leadership Training
  • Cultural Orientation in Risk
  • The Stanford Experiment and The Social Psychology of Risk
  • Objectivity, Audits and Attribution When Calculating Risk
  • Records of safety activities: evidence of safety or non-compliance?
  • Zero, The Seeking of Infinity
  • Safety Leadership Essentials
  • What Can Indiana Jones Tell Us About Culture
  • Safety as a Worldview
  • The Loathing of Limits

VIRAL POST!!! HOW TO QUIT THE SAFETY INDUSTRY

FEATURED POSTS

Investigations and Heuristics

Talking Risk Videos – Humanising Workers Compensation

The Perils of Excessive Safety Management Systems

Understanding Goal States, Motivation and SPoR, A Video

Dumb Ways to Discourse, a Failed Approach in Safety

Safety Surveying What You Already Know

How Do We Know?

The New Leadership – Risk and Safety

Learning from people who we don’t agree with

The Foundations of Safety

There is no ‘Satellite Insightfulness’

Target Trade-Offs and Numeric Goals

Face to Face SPoR Workshops 2022

An Social Ecology of Resilience

In Praise of In-Between Thinking in Risk and Safety

Sensemaking and ‘Hapori’ – Essential for Tackling Risk in New Zealand

Who Gives a Toss?

Real Risk, An New Icon for SafetyRisk and Competition

The New Enemy of Safety – The Unconscious

Social Sensemaking – Book Launch Dates & Venues Confirmed

The Village Effect

What’s Faith Got To Do With Safety

Am I stupid? I didn’t think of that…

Risk as a ‘Leap of Faith’

Zero Discourse and Perfectionism

Post Graduate Safety Potato Heads

Why Safety Isn’t a Choice You Make

Free Safety and Risk Lunch n Learn

Intuition and Safety

What is the Mind of Safety?

Psychology of Risk Post Graduate Program Suspended ‘til 2017

Organising to Manage Uncertainty in an Unpredictable World

The Moment of Decision in Safety

The Sound of Safety

Safety Isn’t Sexy, and it Shouldn’t Be!

The Colour of Safety

Implementing SPoR in the Workplace, A Video

Zero ‘Arm

Incident Investigations and the Einstellung Effect

Keep Discovering

More Posts from this Category

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address and join other discerning risk and safety people who receive notifications of new posts by email

Join 7,500 other subscribers

How we pay for the high cost of running of this site – try it for free on your site

WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY?

What is Psychological Safety at Work?


WHAT IS PSYCHOSOCIAL SAFETY