2025.12.29 COPE WITH WORK - LAB MEETING - COGNITIVE

Описание: COPE WITH WORK LAB MEETING: Reducing “Struck-By” Incidents by Teaching Your Puppy to Sit

In this Lab Meeting, Dr. Matt Jeffs discusses a practical cognitive-ergonomics approach to a major workplace safety issue: "Struck-By" Objects or Equipment incidents, which remain one of OSHA’s Fatal Four. These incidents are often linked to momentary cognitive distraction and brief lapses in situational awareness.

The Big Idea: Attention is a Trainable Skill

Decades of cognitive neuroscience show the human brain is not built for sustained focus in distracting modern environments. However, the good news is that attention is a trainable skill that leverages Long-Term Potentiation (LTP), the neuroplastic mechanism for mastering any cognitive skill.

The 5-Step Puppy Mind Loop

Dr. Jeffs introduces a simple, evidence-based, 5-step loop—treating attention training exactly like teaching an adorable new puppy to sit. This is a practice of metacognition (thinking about thinking) that is an active alternative to passive mindfulness.
Issue the command: Intentionally direct your attention to the task or hazard.
The puppy runs off: Your mind wanders (normal and expected).
The trigger: You notice your attention has drifted.
Greet your puppy: Acknowledge the wandering neutrally and without self-criticism. Never beat your puppy!
Repeat: Calmly retrieve your focus, replace it on the task, and repeat the command.

The Safety Payoff

Each repetition tightens the detection-to-recovery loop. For EHS professionals, a tighter loop translates directly to faster recognition of dynamic hazards in real-time. This can be the difference between a near-miss and a lost-time injury (e.g., noticing a hazard in 0.8 seconds instead of 2.3 seconds).

This is evidence-based cognitive ergonomics that can be embedded into daily safety briefings, pre-task planning, and leadership observation programs to drive measurable reductions in attention-related incidents.

Resources & Links

Read the full article:   / lab-meeting-reducing-struck-by-incidents-t...  

Dr. Matt Jeffs on X: @GlobalErgoGuy

Cited References

Gazzaley, A., & Rosen, L. D. (2016). The distracted mind: Ancient brains in a high-tech world. MIT Press.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
McGilchrist, I. (2009). The master and his emissary: The divided brain and the making of the Western world. Yale University Press.
National Safety Council. (2024). Injury facts: Leading causes of unintentional injury. https://injuryfacts.nsc.org
de Becker, G. (2023, August). Interview on The Rick Rubin Podcast [Audio podcast episode]. Tetragrammaton. Timestamp ~58:27.

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