Safety Policy Letter Change November 2010

[RADIOMAN015]

I'm all for safety and would hate to see anyone get injuried or property destroyed IF it is possible to avoid

The new policy letter dated 11/3/2010, seems to at least water down the quarterly requirement BUT yet places additional burdens on volunteers to input attendance monthly into a safety data base of training via an internet connection.

What's interesting is that monthly safety training materials generally have to be maintained for IG review during inspections, yet Flight Release Officer's can brief pilots (likely engaged in "flying club" activity)  without ANY documentation at all of what actual was actually briefed.  So a +300K aircraft usage requires NO documentation BUT yet someone who might get a hang nail at a squadron meeting has to be fully documented as to monthly training education.

Also the same applies to other Operational Risk Management Briefings -- Doesn't it stand to reason that in order to give a ORM briefing a written outline would have to be prepared so that the major points were covered.     This seems to be much more important than a monthly safety briefing.

As far as preparing monthly safety briefings, I remember at one of the NB meeting that the CAP-USAF Safety Officer stated they would help CAP, so perhaps monthly general safety briefings could actually be prepared at the National level and sent to unit safety officers for presentation.  Actually I've seen 1 or 2 page flyers that frankly reading is all that one needs rather than spending 30+ minutes a month at a squadron meeting.   

Another example of potential organizational issues is in para 4d, where the National Safety team is going to determine what activities/sub activities require Operational Risk Safety Briefings and WHO is going to be authorized to give these briefings.  Determining the WHO should be interesting.

I think the new safety program is a perfect example of what happens when you hire a safety professional at National HQ and of course staffers always have to generate paper in any organization.   Realistically it should be the paid staffer that is developing specific training briefings for mitigating our experienced accident types.

Personally, I think this whole program has the potential of becoming a half hearted quick briefing, almost pencil whippen exercise, IF too many requirements are placed on volunteers just to attend unit activities.          

Remember be safe out there, because if you have an accident likely you will end up paying for it in more than one way
RM

[vento]

I don't see any additional burden to general members. Safety Officer in CAWG used to input safety briefing records into WMU, now we do it in eServices. Members don't have to do any input at all. Actually members can see their own safety briefing record and their currency within eServices, something that wasn't easily available (or at least not that obvious) to general members.

Additionally, members who can't attend the monthly meeting now have the option of taking a briefing online and get the currency renewed. IMHO, it is actually better than the old system with the quarterly requirement, etc, etc.

Safety education is a continuous effort to implant the safety first mindset into all members, the example of pilot and FRO doesn't really show the whole picture. Most safety briefings in the squadron are designed for all members (cadet and senior, pilot and non pilots). Mission safety briefing is event specific and totally different animal. FRO are not necessarily Safety Officers.

Squadrons that already have a strong safety program will see nothing new. Hopefully squadrons who lack of a good safety program will at least have a few more options for their members.

I would give the system a try before killing it upon arrival. We all learn from experience and mistakes.

[RADIOMAN015]

I don't see any additional burden to general members. Safety Officer in CAWG used to input safety briefing records into WMU, now we do it in eServices. Members don't have to do any input at all. Actually members can see their own safety briefing record and their currency within eServices, something that wasn't easily available (or at least not that obvious) to general members.

Safety education is a continuous effort to implant the safety first mindset into all members, the example of pilot and FRO doesn't really show the whole picture. Most safety briefings in the squadron are designed for all members (cadet and senior, pilot and non pilots). Mission safety briefing is event specific and totally different animal. FRO are not necessarily Safety Officers.

I would give the system a try before killing it upon arrival. We all learn from experience and mistakes.

I just feel that realistically very few working full time adults at the unit level, have the time to prepare effective safety briefings from scratch or even do any ORM without having a basic checklist to use.
If you look at the most recent edition of the "Safety Beacon", what's attached in PDF format could also be easily placed on the safety website in a slide type format (generally power point) that could be readily used as the unit safety briefing for that month.  You than have consistency of training materials and a very easy way for unit safety officers to give a very good briefing with not much work
You could also develop safety briefing materials for specific types of activities/functional volunteer jobs (e.g. radio comm, vehicle operations, aircraft operation/flying).

Again I really don't want us to have any accidents that are avoidable BUT the USAF did state they would help us and we should be asking for their already developed material to use, so minimal yet "effective" time is spent on this program!
RM     

[JeffDG]

I don't see any additional burden to general members. Safety Officer in CAWG used to input safety briefing records into WMU, now we do it in eServices. Members don't have to do any input at all. Actually members can see their own safety briefing record and their currency within eServices, something that wasn't easily available (or at least not that obvious) to general members.

Safety education is a continuous effort to implant the safety first mindset into all members, the example of pilot and FRO doesn't really show the whole picture. Most safety briefings in the squadron are designed for all members (cadet and senior, pilot and non pilots). Mission safety briefing is event specific and totally different animal. FRO are not necessarily Safety Officers.

I would give the system a try before killing it upon arrival. We all learn from experience and mistakes.

I just feel that realistically very few working full time adults at the unit level, have the time to prepare effective safety briefings from scratch or even do any ORM without having a basic checklist to use.
If you look at the most recent edition of the "Safety Beacon", what's attached in PDF format could also be easily placed on the safety website in a slide type format (generally power point) that could be readily used as the unit safety briefing for that month.  You than have consistency of training materials and a very easy way for unit safety officers to give a very good briefing with not much work
You could also develop safety briefing materials for specific types of activities/functional volunteer jobs (e.g. radio comm, vehicle operations, aircraft operation/flying).

Again I really don't want us to have any accidents that are avoidable BUT the USAF did state they would help us and we should be asking for their already developed material to use, so minimal yet "effective" time is spent on this program!
RM     

I can say that as someone that works in a safety focused industry, I need to prepare safety content for every meeting that I attend with more than 3 people on it, whether in person or on a conference call.  The first agenda item on every single meeting/con-call is safety...period.

[caphornbuckle]

I can agree that the new program is going to take a while for everyone to get the hang of.  But as it was said by vento, it isn't much different than the old program.

Basically, it gives us more options in how the "Safety Education Training" is performed.  Gathering information for safety education each month has always been a problem with safety officers.  Those who have done it for a number of years have materials that they have collected for a long time and when a new batch of members arrive (and the material is still current) they have no problem using the same briefings they've used a couple of years before.

There's also the on line briefings available in e-services that a member can use to make up for ones they have missed.  This makes it easier on the safety officer because it takes the burden off them (to a point) of making sure their briefing is completed.

Another good point with this new program (as it was explained to me by Mr. Jirik) is that the safety education training can be done over the phone.  That's right!  If you have a 15 minute conversation with someone about safety, this can count!

That's the best part of the new program...it's interactive!  You can sit with your unit and give a topic.  Then everyone can discuss the topic that you have given them.  You can kill 15 minutes easy.  It also keeps you from standing in front of everyone and reading something causing boredom and inattentiveness.  They will be involved so they will pay attention better.  That would help improve the program, IMHO.

Safety can be a busy job.  This will help take the load off than add to the burden, in my opinion.