Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
That is the challenge for modern risk management: to use the safety
structures in the brain as much as possible by reprogramming them for
the new dangers. This reprogramming is part of the personal learning
history of each individual. We have already seen that knowledge can
easily spread amid a group, especially an in-group, but each individual
still has to create a personal learning curve for acting safely. In the
reprogramming, the old inherited sensitivities can be linked to new sti-
muli. We can call the result the second nature, because it helps us to
adapt to a new world and to adjust to our required roles in society.
While reprogramming, we develop domestic and work safety beha-
viors. We learn that a stove can be very hot and that machinery can be
very dangerous. An essential part of raising children is to teach them
the dangers of this world. The same can be said about the role of
employers. They have to teach their employees how to work safely, as
employees cannot rely on their previous experience. Safety education is
an essential part in training, pointing out potential consequences from
underestimating serious dangers. To illustrate this, just look at the
amount of serious accidents in the domestic environment. More than
50 percent of all emergency treatments originate from accidents in the
home. Even at home, our risk tolerance is much too high, and the dan-
gerous stimuli are not sufficiently programmed.
