As Sailors aboard USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) reach the end of deployment, they may be distracted with thoughts of home, loved ones and enjoying a break from the day-to-day work.

The complacency that develops as a result of a distracted mind after performing repetitive daily duties can cause Sailors to lose their edge, which can result in injuries or mishaps.

"Complacency happens when someone gets too relaxed or gets too used to the day-to-day tasks that causes a rise of a lack of attention to detail," said Boatswain's Mate 2nd Class Caitlin Albright, assigned to GHWB's safety department. "When Sailors get complacent errors in judgment happen and that could lead to preventable injuries or other mishaps."

Complacency occurs because of the repetitive nature of the job, and not necessarily because a Sailor chooses to be complacent. The jobs of certain departments are risky during the best of conditions and the danger only rises when complacency becomes a factor.

"One of the places on the ship that you can't afford to be complacent is the flight deck," said Albright. "Foul-line crossings are a definite no-no. If you do not have your head on a swivel there, you put yourself and others at risk."

It is a challenge that the chain of command knows exists and has addressed the crew about reiterating that complacency is more than a word; it can mean the difference between a happy ending or a tragic finale to deployment.

"To battle complacency, Sailors need to recognize, admit and take active steps to fight it," said Albright. "Training is available, either by approaching anyone from safety or through many of the safety videos available via media department's video vault."

Albright also says that any event or evolution Sailors accomplish at sea comes with some degree of risk. As long as Sailors focus on the task at hand and practice operational risk management (ORM), mishaps can be mitigated.

Loss of focus is one of the primary ways mishaps occur aboard. Preventable and non-preventable mishaps have the same results: loss of man-hours, damage to equipment, injuries and possibly death.

"It's easy to think nothing bad will happen to someone but the risk is there especially in our line of work," said Albright. "A Sailor's day can get pretty bad if they do not treat each task with the proper respect when it comes to risk."

While it is human nature for Sailors to grow eager to reach homeport after what feels like the last lap of a long and tiring race, it is important that they remain focused throughout the deployment as a level of professionalism is still expected from them.

"My advice is to just take those extra moments to self-evaluate and correct themselves if they realize they are showing signs of complacency," said Albright. "Finding other activities aboard during the downtime helps keep a mind sharp, whether it's exercise or working on earning a warfare pin. We are at the tail end of the deployment and Sailors should focus on the tasks
they need to complete today, and save tomorrow's issues for tomorrow."



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