Recent discoveries in neuroscience show us that traditional safety approaches alone are not likely to create safe work behavior no matter how motivated workers are.

Our brains cannot access, recall, and apply the volume and complexity of information typically included in traditional safety programs, especially when people are working under changing and distracting conditions typical of day-to-day construction work. Even if workers learn the content once and can demonstrate the knowledge after training, they are highly unlikely to be able to recall it and use it at the moment they need it.

Most safety programs are built for slow-brain thinking which involves logical analysis, reasoning, and processing a lot of information or complex models. A typical slow-brain response is to look up content when needed and read it to the crew or get input from safety professionals or use reference materials. On the other hand, fast-brain thinking involves quick, split-second responses in the moment that either increase or decrease our safety risks. Workers who develop fast-brain techniques can respond quickly to prevent incidents or accidents without losing a lot of time for analysis and processing.  

Human Centered Safety provides a model that accounts for both slow- and fast-brain thinking and addresses more of the complete range of risks in work done in dynamic industrial, construction, and transportation environments.