Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
the salivation process started when the dog heard the bell. A condi-
tioned stimulus (the sound of the footsteps) could again be used to
condition a second new and neutral stimulus (bell) in such a way that
it gains the quality of a conditioned stimulus. Via this principle, the
original response could spread over a category of stimuli.
Classical conditioning works not only in the area of physical reflexes
but also with emotional reactions like anxiety, pain, or happiness. As
mentioned earlier, risk sensitivity is the associative connection of (a slight
feeling of) anxiety and/or pain with a stimulus. A safety coach who wants
to sensitize a new colleague for a potential risk involved in, for example,
handling a tool, needs to create an association between the new tool and
a feeling of anxiety. Once this association is established, the colleague will
sense his own anxiety as soon as he sees or works with the tool again. We
call this learned anxiety a conditioned anxiety. This conditioning process
is a crucial step in gaining risk sensitivity. As soon as the new colleague
experiences the possible danger of the specific tool (for example, an elec-
trical saw or a sharp knife), all other comparable tools will be experienced
as dangerous.
Classical conditioning teaches you to have an emotional reaction as soon
as you are confronted with a possible dangerous stimulus.
For a safety coach, there are two basic ways to evoke an anxiety
feeling in the mind of a colleague: using an existing anxiety of the col-
league involved or sharing his own anxiety. Both are described here:
1. Connecting the new stimulus with another stimulus that already evokes
an anxiety response and/or a pain sensation. This can be done via:
Adding negative associations (for example, emphasizing the risks
that can be involved in a certain activity or environment that are
comparable with another known activity).
Creating associations with past events (for example, discussing in
a
1
“
toolbox meeting
”
an earlier incident that happened with a
comparable task).
1
A
“
toolbox meeting
”
is defined as a meeting of all people (employees and contractors) involved
in the execution of a task. These people discuss the actual assignment, what actions have to be
taken, who is involved for which activity, and what the end result should be. Part of a toolbox
meeting is a Safety Risk Analysis, in which all people discuss what the possible risks might be
and what can be done to reduce these risks and to solve possible problems in case they appear.
