02/26/2026
"Lightning never strikes twice." โ A Deadly Bias in Lab Safety ๐ง โก๏ธ
Psychologists call this the ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซโ๐ฌ ๐
๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฒ, the mistaken belief that if a disaster just happened, we are "due" for a stretch of safety. This belief causes us to treat a near-miss like a 'get-out-of-jail-free card' by assuming our tragedy quota is filled instead of treating it as a ๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ฅ.
๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฒ: Safety doesnโt live in the EHS office; it lives wherever decisions are made. Whether formal or informal, leaders are the ones who must interrupt these myths. Every time a leader ignores a "lucky" near-miss, they are allowing a ๐๐ข๐๐ฌ to lead their team.
Instead, every incident must be recognized as a ๐๐๐๐๐๐ that the system's defenses have failed. If leaders do not interrupt these cognitive traps, the traps will lead the team toward the next incident.
๐๐จ๐ง'๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐๐. Dive deeper into how leaders can dismantle the psychological traps that underestimate real risk and danger.
๐ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฒ | March 13, 2026
๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ซ๐: https://www.labsafety.org/events/leadership-in-safety-3-13-26