The Complex Links Between Safety and Competencies An Inverted U Curve

The Complex Links Between Safety and Competencies An Inverted U Curve 

The representation of one s own competencies (metacognition) is another variable that determines the successful control of a situation. The alleria that the subject imposes on himself in terms of the objective (the initial contract between himself and the enterprise) influences all strategies and tactics used in supervision and provides the first level of control over the degree of risk that will be accepted when doing the work. 

This model of the control of risk-taking which is constantly adjnsted according to reflections on the actor s competence and confidence in himself cannot fail to benefit safety. 

In fact, in such a system, the more technical competency the operator acquires, the more successes he accumulates, validating his mastery of the sitnation, the more his routines integrate the capacity for recovery and adjnst themselves (this is an automatic, irrepressible process and the subject is not aware of it) by seeking out the turbulent limits of the more remote environment (deviation signals) in order to exercise self-control. The expert operator therefore carries ont his process in a routine way, without even being aware of it, with more deviations from the rule than the less expert operator. 

The shape of the relationship between safety and competency is therefore an inverted U curve. 

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