Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
4.1 ENHANCING RISK UNDERSTANDING
As mentioned, risk understanding is an autonomous and mostly non-
conscious activity of the brain. Four aspects influence the quality of
this process:
1. Time and timing
2. The amount of data to scan
3. The amount of conscious attention
4. The understanding of the data
4.1.1 Time and Timing
The scanning process starts as soon as one intends to do something,
for example, when accepting an assignment. This can be hours or
even days before the actual task has to be executed. A toolbox meet-
ing can be seen as one of the starting points for the brain to prepare
for the next task. The task description has the function of an assign-
ment that is given to the brain and executed on a nonconscious level.
Thisautomatedassignmentneedsanamountoftimethatisdirectly
related to the amount of data involved. Our brain needs more time to
digest big plans. The process also needs some unoccupied brain cells,
so it works best at free moments, for example, during breaks at work
or during a good night of sleep. Neuropsychologists claim that the
basic function of sleep is to offer the brain the opportunity to store
the learning experiences of the previous day and to prepare for tasks
of the coming day. When you are studying a new language and
rehearse some new words an hour before you go to bed, the amount
of words you can still recall after one hour is lower than the amount
you can remember the next morning. During the night, a lot of con-
nectionsareestablishedinthebrainthathelpustostoreandretrieve
the most important information. If we have complicated questions to
answer, we
d do best to sleep on it, making decisions the next morn-
ing (Dijksterhuis, 2007). During the night, the brain defines the best
answers,andwewillknowwhattodooncewewakeup.Soifwe
have an option to do the toolbox meeting before a break or even as
a last action the day before, this will certainly help the brain to be
maximally prepared. Doing nothing allows us to prepare for doing
something complicated.
'
A toolbox meeting supports the brain to anticipate what might happen.
