2019 NSC Congress & Expo

37 - The Psychology of Risk Homeostasis: Why Smart Technology Makes Us Take More Risks (Room 29B)

09 Sep 19
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Tracks: Research to Practice

Speaker(s): Mark Pergrem, Senior Safety Consultant, SAFEMap;

Moderator(s): Robert Braun, Mr., UT Arlington OSHA Education Center

Smart technologies, such as proximity alert systems, smartphones and automation, are supposed to make us safer. So why do humans react to them by taking more risks? In this session, we’ll discuss studies that show the impact of technology – how we take more risks because of it, and how it can make our sites/performance worse through risk homeostasis. Smart technology also introduces a serious degree of confusion for human operators regarding their assessment of risks. In this session, you’ll learn how these limitations can be overcome by the application of sound cognitive psychological principles.