How Driven People Keep Calm and Carry On: Controls for Stress and Urgency that Foster Psychological Safety
David Musgrave
(DEKRA)
Let’s face it, we have all been in situations of high stress during critical activities at work when we feel overwhelmed in the moment and yet we need to perform important tasks correctly. This session speaks to how we can best own these moments for successful execution despite challenges. As operations become safer and more reliable, there is a significant shift ongoing in industry toward putting deeper roots down into the human side of safety. Historically there has been a strong positive focus on addressing physical hazards in the workplace, yet until more recently there has been an often lagging effort around improving human performance reliability. More now than ever before we are able to apply what we know for sure about how we humans behave at work, including during times of perceived stress and urgency and the impact on safety and psychological safety. Understanding the science that drives decision making during challenging times allows employers to better prepare for increases in exposure including abnormal conditions. Organizations focused on keeping operations safely in control are ensuring their existing layers of protection are now fully addressing brain-centered hazards to prevent critical errors, injury, and catastrophe. This session provides a systemic approach to addressing stress and urgency with actionable takeaways for immediate application post conference.