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Safety Management

Does Your Brain Go into "Shutdown" Mode After a Long Vacation? — Why Accidents Increase When It Takes Time to "Reboot" —

2025/08/11

Hello, everyone.

This is Enta.

The long Obon holiday break. For some people, it’s 11 consecutive days off!

It's a bit short—9 consecutive days off!

Gah!!! But!!

You stepped away from the workplace to refresh your mind and body—or so you thought—but haven’t you found yourself in this situation when you returned to work after your break?

"Um... what was the plan for today again?"
"Huh, these ingredients... why did I put them here?"

That's right, the brain...Mental StagnationI'm doing it.

And it is precisely this state that,A Hotbed of Accidentswill be.

Work Site Accident

Why Are Accidents on the Rise?

During a long vacation, the brain switches completely into “vacation mode.”

  • Work Mode: Planning, Risk Assessment, and Full Concentration

  • Vacation Mode: Laid-back, simple-minded, and lacking a sense of urgency

Apparently, it takes time to get back into work mode. (Due to the structure of the brain.)

If field work begins before this switchover is complete,

I can't even notice dangers that I would normally be able to spot.

Examples of Accidents That Often Occur After a Holiday Break

  • Tripping on a step in the scaffolding (near-miss)

  • Even if someone walks into a heavy machine's blind spot, it won't notice them (This is seriously dangerous!)

  • Failure to Inspect Lifting Wires

  • Mistakes in procedures or planning

These are mostly "slip-ups," but they definitely happen more often right after a vacation.

Heinrich's Law

Ways to Speed Up Brain Recovery

  1. Getting into work mode a little bit the day before I return to work
    → Apparently, even just checking emails and reviewing on-site photos can be effective.

  2. The first day was spent on warm-up exercises
    → Save heavy or dangerous work for the second day or later

  3. Allocate more time for Hazard Prediction (KY) activities
    → After a break, make a conscious effort to anticipate more potential hazards

Right after a long vacation, your brain isn't quite up to speed yet.

If you keep working at full throttle like that, the likelihood of an accident will skyrocket.

Right after a vacation is the time when,

Take Your Time Rebooting + Safety First。

Warming up your brain is the quickest way to save your life.

See you later.

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