Five Seconds
to Safety
How a Simple Exercise Can Overcome
Costly Damage, Unacceptable Accidents,
and Possibly, Loss Of Life
by Walter Chartrand
The Realties of Safety in Aviation
We hear it all the time: Safety this,
safety that. Blah Blah Blah.
Fuel suppliers, ground support
manufacturers, insurance companies,
and even trade associations continue
to harp on FBOs, year in and year out
about the virtues of safety.
Why? What is so important that
these companies spend enormous
amounts of money, time, and
resources on a topic that appears to be
so logical?
Aside from the inherent risks of
aviation activities, safety should be the
cornerstone of any employee activity in
any industry. Companies who employ
safe, consistent measures benefit
from lack of injury, smaller insurance
premiums, and a wide host of benefits
directly associated with trouble-free
organizations. The soapbox preachers
of safety, including the author, do so
in order to warn, assist, and educate
businesses that do not want liability
issues, broken airplanes, or even a loss
of life on the ramp.
And yet, the response from the
audience, overall, usually borders on
apathy or even indifference. When
50
asked about a training or safety
program, often is heard something
like… “Sure we have a training and
safety program. We have the decal on
the door and the patch on our shirts.”
The question: Is this truly a program
they live by?
And then, the following week, the
tail of your client’s aircraft is crumpled
against the hangar during a routine
taxi. The damage requires a new tail,
a new wall, and minutes later the
lineman involved calls in sick with a
sore neck.
“I was never trained to do that…?”
Training is the heart of understanding
exactly what safety issues are in play
and how to minimize the risk. The key
focus should be on ensuring that we
do not ask any employee to perform
a task they have not been properly
trained to do… this sounds simple, and
when we present that concept virtually
everyone agrees with it. Yet, when
we perform a Root Cause Analysis
evaluation after an incident, invariably
we hear the statement… “Well, I was
never really trained how to do that.”
When we look at some of the high
profile careers in our industry, we
see an extensive amount of training
is required — training for airplane
pilots, air traffic controllers, or aircraft
mechanics. These careers employ
regimented training steps that are
well defined in order to achieve
a satisfactory level of academic
knowledge and practical experience.
However, if we focus on the General
Aviation ground service segment of the
industry, we see a starting Line Service
position treated as a menial task
performer that requires little training
or supervision. In many instances,
there is no formal and documented
training program and almost never a
recurrent training program for tenured
employees.
The Five Second Rule
In the Air BP training format
we request that any Line Service
Technician ask a very simple question
before undertaking any activity. This
question usually takes no more than
five seconds to answer and results in
the individual engaging the process
of “thinking safety.” It solicits a quick
review of the issues at risk and what
precautions should be put into place
before the activity is undertaken. The
question also alerts an individual to
the possibility that they may not know
all they should about the task or the
equipment to be used to complete
the task safely. The question is “What
harm or damage could result from my
actions?” Immediately the individual
starts to review the possibilities of
what could happen. This puts the
individual in a precautionary state of
mind that leads them to think about
the “what ifs” and exactly what to do to
prevent them.
Managing Risks
In order to manage risks one has to
be aware of the risks that exist, which
requires proper training of not only
“how” to perform the task, but “why”
the task is performed. It is obvious we
work in a risk prevalent industry and
there is no way to eliminate all risks.
Even being able to avoid risks requires
us to know what they are, so once the
risk is known, we can possibly reduce
the risk. Management is what we do,
and frankly, this is probably the most
difficult aspect of our jobs. Equally
as difficult is to arrive at the same
place of business day in, day out, and
keep a fresh set of eyes in an effort
to continually monitor and reduce
risks. In a vast majority of cases, this
simply means bringing back into focus
the potential risks people have been
trained about, or a need to retrain
ensuring all the risks are known.
Creating a Culture of Openness
When the five-second rule is employed
and encouraged, several things begin
to develop. The first is an openness
and willingness for employees to
ask questions. This is good for
improving communications and the
sharing of experience. The second
is the acknowledgment of desired
career development: when we have
an employee who truly wants to
learn and grow, we have someone
we should nurture and assist with
the development of their career. It
is very interesting when we review
Root Cause Analysis to see to whom
accidents and incidents happen. We
generally find a fairly high occurrence
attributed to newer employees due
to their lack of proper training, and
a much lower number attributed
to highly experienced employees.
However, the vast majority of incidents
and accidents happen to those
employees who have “been there a
while,” typically “think they know”
how to perform a task — although
they have doubts about the task at
hand, were not comfortable enough
to ask questions and show their lack
of knowledge through fear of being
chastised.
Training and Retention
Roger Staubach is quoted as saying,
“Confidence doesn’t come out of
nowhere. It’s a result of something —
hours and days and weeks and years
of constant work and dedication.”
Proper and adequate training develops
that confidence. Proper and adequate
training involves five distinct steps:
First, a clear explanation of the
task to be performed; Second, a
demonstration of the task correctly
preformed; Third, to allow the trainee
to describe the task; Fourth, allowing
the trainee to perform the task; Fifth,
to correct and adjust, and to document
that the training has occurred. When
done properly, this shows sincere
interest in the employee and helps
them to feel like an important part
of the organization. This naturally
promotes employee retention.
Knowledge is Power
In order to promote safety, we must
begin to help employees “think safety”
and that can be fostered through the
implementation of the five-second
rule. But, in order for the five-second
rule to be effective, one must realize
what risks are involved with any task
they are asked to perform. That
comes back to proper and adequate
training. Let us be sensitive to the
need for training and how it can
bring safer operations and bettervalued employees. Investments
made in training can only result in
increased profitability and better
employees who truly feel a part of our
organizations.
Walter Chartrand has instructed Ground
Handling Safety for almost 30 years. He
can be reached at 281-386-8512.
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