ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the sensemaking literature to establish an understanding of the concept, especially how it is understood in the context of sharp-end operators in high-risk organizations. Safety in high-risk organizations is created by the everyday behavior of all employees in the organization – at all levels – as they go about getting their job done. Sensemaking seems self-explanatory as it literally means “the making of sense”; however, as a cognitive concept, it reaches beyond merely being another word for “understanding” or “interpreting”. Sensemaking also differs from the widely used concept of SA. SA is an individually achieved state of knowledge, based on the perception of elements in the environment and the comprehension of their meaning, which is used to make predictions about the future. Sensemaking understood as a cognitive process has been described as consisting of three interrelated processes: creation, interpretation and enactment.
