{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/escalate-concern-with-a-shared-signal-phrase",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-0369",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Escalate concern with a shared signal phrase",
  "summary": "Sometimes the useful upgrade is not louder speech but less ambiguous speech.",
  "kind": "pattern",
  "body": "Use graduated shared language: state that you are concerned, then why the situation makes you uncomfortable, then explicitly name the safety or material-risk issue if it remains unresolved. The value comes from the team agreeing that these phrases change the response mode.",
  "limits": [
    "Do not label routine disagreement a safety issue; overuse destroys the shared meaning of the escalation signal."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-high-reliability-communication"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-E5A18A777943BA7F"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "AHRQ's CUS tool provides graduated signal phrases—concerned, uncomfortable, safety issue—to make escalating risk explicit to the team.",
      "source_id": "RS-E5A18A777943BA7F",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Use safety language only for material risk; overuse weakens the shared signal.",
      "locator": "CUS steps"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A team needs unmistakable language that says a disagreement has crossed into material risk."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Do not label routine disagreement a safety issue; overuse destroys the shared meaning of the escalation signal."
  ],
  "example": "'I am concerned that the file contains production IDs. I am uncomfortable running it without reconciliation. This is a data-integrity risk because the update is irreversible.'",
  "check": "The listener recognizes that the message requires resolution or escalation rather than ordinary debate.",
  "recognition": "I am concerned because [evidence]. I am uncomfortable proceeding while [unresolved risk]. This is a material safety/risk issue because [possible harm].",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-E5A18A777943BA7F",
      "title": "Tool: CUS",
      "url": "https://www.ahrq.gov/teamstepps-program/curriculum/mutual/tools/cus.html"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-EDE4DDA550A31359",
      "title": "Close the communication loop when ambiguity can become an error",
      "url": "/collections/close-the-communication-loop-when-ambiguity-can-become-an-error"
    }
  ]
}