Definition - Attention Saturation Bias

When people are exposed to something too often, they tend to overlook it or underestimate its significance. This can cause critical information to fade into the background and be ignored.

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EXAMPLE

Repeating the same safety signage without consistently linking its purpose to specific tasks and individuals in meaningful, actionable ways is unlikely to result in long-term safety improvements.


 

Signage is only a small part of developing a true culture of safety, supported by management systems

The same could be said for repeatedly seeing the same information on job cost or other financial reports.

When this happens over and over, it can lead to a culture where deviations from correct behavior or rules become culturally normalized.

 

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Attention Saturation is closely related to "Normalization of Deviance," which is described very well by astronaut Mike Mullane talking about the Challenger and Columbia disasters. 

 

 

Management's role is to take general principles, like "Think Safety First!", and connect them to the specific tasks and contexts relevant to each person they are responsible for. Sometimes, this involves telling a story. Other times, it may require training on a specific task or tool, coaching while observing, or asking questions to validate how others are thinking. 

This is the role, responsibility, and skill of good managers

 

 


Definition - Attention Saturation Bias
Building a project requires knowledge of, and skill in using thousands of construction-specific definitions, acronyms, and metrics. Building a business including the development of people has its own vocabulary forming the foundation of communication....

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