In any given moment, it’s hard to recognize whether you’re in a state of complacency.

Here’s a quick test: ask yourself, “Am I being complacent?”

See what we did there? You’ve likely figured out by now that if you’re thinking about complacency—enough to ask yourself that question—then you’re not being complacent. But stop thinking about it and there’s a chance you’ll slip right back into a state of complacency. 

If you consider that more attention needs to be given to complacency, you’re well on your way to doing something about it for the future. At an individual level, you can predict the times you’re likely to be complacent. Driving the same route is a very common task to be complacent about and so is performing repetitive tasks in the workplace. The best way to avoid falling into the complacency trap is to change up your routine when possible. Drive a different route or make small changes to help you concentrate more on the road and break up the complacency. 

At work, when performing repetitive tasks, introduce elements of competition or some kind of reward system to make repetitive tasks more engaging. At an organizational level, it may be a case of not seeing the forest for the trees. When an organization is specifically focused on listed hazards, it can be hard to recognize what they’re not looking for. Consider doing a job safety analysis (JSA) with only complacency in mind. Break down each job into steps and identify where you might find individual or organizational complacency. Determine how to prevent complacency to control the hazards and communicate the results.

Adopt a culture of vigilance

By definition, complacency is what happens when you aren’t paying attention to the risks. Since complacency is a human factor, it influences patterns of behavior. High-reliability organizations (HROs) often strive for a persistent state of vigilance despite past success. HROs work to change the perception of complacency from something that naturally happens to something that can be prevented and can become a function of the workplace safety culture. By actively promoting awareness and proactivity to identify and mitigate risks and potential harm, organizations open the door to a collective safety effort. 

There are individual and organizational levels of complacency that influence the culture, which ultimately impact safety. Instead of accepting complacency as a fixture in your organization, make it part of the organization’s continuous improvement plan. Talk about complacency often. Once complacency becomes part of the daily conversation, it may inspire workers to let other workers know when they might be at risk of being complacent. Intentionally looking for complacency can help eliminate it.

Work on habits

A tried and tested SafeStart method for combating complacency is working on building good habits. When individuals go on autopilot or their minds are wandering and not focused on the task at hand, their habits will take over. The autopilot mode of your body moving automatically without thinking happens when you have strong muscle memory. Muscle memory is what happens when you’ve repeated an action many times, so that no conscious thought is required to continue to perform the physical action. And since most people often don’t realize they’re in a state of complacency until something bad happens, having good habits in your muscle memory is one way to ensure you stay safe when you unknowingly slip into autopilot.

Use technology for good

Automation complacency is what happens when people rely on automatic equipment or technology to do tasks without human control. And it makes sense that people who have experienced high system reliability wouldn’t be thinking about surrounding risks.

The other side of the coin shows that technology can also be just the thing you need to snap you out of a complacent mindset. For example, smartwatches and other wearable technology can monitor when you’re showing signs of fatigue and help manage the symptoms to prevent serious incidents. Setting an electronic reminder is another way technology can bring people out of a complacent haze. If you know that you’re usually complacent about the risks on your drive home, set an audible alarm to consciously pay attention to the risks of driving or use GPS to take a different route than normal. Sensors can detect deviations and provide real-time feedback, alerting workers to hazards, preventing individuals and systems from becoming complacent.

Assess your state of mind

Complacency happens when safety isn’t at the forefront of people’s minds. When you find your state of mind is consumed by other states, like rushing, frustration or fatigue, you can be more susceptible to being overcome by complacency. Thousands of people who have participated in SafeStart training identify rushing as the most common state causing their errors. Rushing can dull your senses and compromise your reflexes.  Rushing can also increase complacency. When individuals are in a rush, it’s like tunnel vision—the pressure to finish tasks quickly can cause workers to only focus on their immediate goals, potentially missing hazards or risks in the perimeter. Rushing can create frustration, which can further the level of complacency.

Frustration—often synonymous with stress, anger or annoyance—happens when things don’t go as you intended and your reaction is rash. And if you’re only seeing red, you might not notice the risks outside your frustration scope. When someone is frustrated, they may become preoccupied by their overwhelming feelings, making it harder to concentrate on the task at hand. Complacency can affect the quality of decisions that are made. Frustration can contribute to both mental and physical exhaustion, which can present itself as fatigue.

Pushing forward when you’re fatigued is another example where complacency may creep in. Most people know that fatigue impairs mental and physical performance and reduces coordination, yet they still continue to think that nothing bad will happen if they perform their regular tasks while tired. They may become less focused on details and more likely to overlook potential risks or hazards, leading to a decrease in situational awareness and an increase in complacency. Reduced alertness makes it harder to notice potential hazards and increases the likelihood of downplaying the consequences of their actions. 

Human factors can create a cycle where a certain level of complacency allows individuals to feel comfortable enough to rush or continue working when tired or frustrated, then the rushing leads to frustration, which leads to fatigue, which can add more complacency—individuals become less vigilant, more prone to errors, and ultimately more likely to underestimate risks. But addressing human factors can prevent these hazards and contribute to building a healthy safety culture where workers can see through the fog of complacency and look out for each other’s safety.

This blog post is an excerpt adapted from Fighting Familiarity: Overcoming Complacency in the Workplace. It defines complacency, discusses individual and organizational complacency, offers insights into its contributing factors, and provides a straightforward overview of what organizations can do about it. Download it to proactively reduce complacency in your workplace.