Can You Live With It?
Robert (Bob) Baron, Ph.D
President/CEO at The Aviation Consulting Group, LLC
You are working in the maintenance hangar and you notice that a few of your colleagues are signing off inspections as complete when in fact no such inspections were done. Now what do you do??
1. Conform to the norm (do what they are doing because, even though it's wrong, it's more comfortable to "go with the flow.")
2. Ignore it.?
3. Speak to them individually and try to talk some sense into them.?
4. Report these deviations directly to the safety department and/or supervisor.
5. Go directly to the FAA and become a "whistleblower." After all, whistleblowers are provided protection against job sanctions when they are reporting legitimate safety concerns (this program is more common in the United States).???
It's a tough decision that will be based on moral, ethical, legal and regulatory concerns. Each choice comes with its own potential problems and challenges. Most people, on paper, would probably pick choice 3 because it seems the most "socially acceptable"—kind of a middle ground. However, in real life, we know that choices 1 and 2 are more common. This is based, historically, on numerous accidents that were caused by maintenance errors. Choices 1 and 2 are selected because they cause us the least amount of angst. Choices 4 and 5 are more aggressive and there are certainly people that take that approach. The problem they may encounter is that they may become viewed as chronic complainers and whiners. In fact, you may know of someone that "no longer had their services required" for this very reason. They were terminated because they were reporting significant safety issues that were going ignored. A case where the employee, instead of being a solution to the problem, became part of the problem (in the organization's eyes).????
Moral of the story: Think about your decisions and actions. If you become part of the normalization of deviance, or you ignore the problem completely, then you will share culpability if lives are lost. Can you live with it? Some mechanics could not.?
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Dr. Bob Baron conducts aviation safety training, consulting, and program implementation for aviation operators on a global basis.
Sensitive and knowledgeable about various cultures, Dr. Baron uses his 36+ years of academic and practical experience to assist aviation organizations in their pursuit of safety and quality excellence. He has extensive experience working with developing nations and island countries. He also provides training and consulting to some of the largest airlines and aircraft manufacturers in the world, as well as civil aviation authorities and accident investigation bureaus.
If your aviation organization is interested in improving its culture, implementing programs such as Human Factors, SMS, SSP, or LOSA, or have an external, unbiased safety audit/Gap analysis, please get in touch.
Dr. Baron’s company, TACG, provides numerous training, consulting, and auditing services. For more information, please go to https://www.tacgworldwide.com
Legal Associate at Ivory & Wellington
2 年Reminds me of Alaska 261. In 1998, One maintenance staff blew the whistle to FAA that supervisors were approving maintenance records that they were not allowed to approve. The man resigned and in 2000 flight 261 happened
Inflight Policies/Procedure Consultant
2 年Indeed, a familiar challenge not just in maintenance, but also in the cabin. In fairness, with the advent of confidential reporting systems (e.g., ASAP), concerns related to safety are less likely to go undocumented. However, still very much a risk. ?These programs are not intended to be avenues to ?“tattletale”. Instead, to document and mitigate risk through Safety Reporting. Finally, success is very dependent upon an organization’s healthy safety culture. Thanks for posting.
Owner, CEO and Flight Test Director of AeROIFlight Corporation. MSc Aero Eng, Electronic Eng, Test Pilot + Flight Test and Instrumentation Engineer.
2 年Unfortunately, (there is a saying in Spanish that translated sounds like this) PAPER ENDURES EVERYTHING, reality is very different, I have been myself in (higher engineering level) in a similar position a number of times, let me give you an example: I had to calculate XYZ and found that if the company installed this YZX they would bankrupt. My boss at that time told me I HAD TO CHANGE MY CALCULATIONS!, I did not want to and told him 1+1 is 2, He used to be a Rugby player, big, muscle etc..he practically bullied me into: or you change it or you will be fired and will specifically contact everybody I know so nobody would give you employment ever!, I really had no option, a year + later we had an emergency engineering meeting with the customer, the person presenting the situation showed that my numbers had been right on the spot; my boss looked at me saying with his eyes...IF YOU TALK!!!!....I did not say anything, the next day I came to work and I found an envelope in my desk....come and pick up your last check....and for a long time I could not find a job, 6 months later, the company indeed bankrupt. Going to the FAA is just paper...If you buy anything and have a problem, you contact the consumer protection division of each state, and the answer is ALWAYS THE SAME, you need a lawyer, I still have not been able to understand what is the consumer protection division mission yet. actually I am quite sure, that, that is what happened in the Space Shuttle accident, I bet somebody warned a big manager in NASA about that O'ring, theory is great (specially legal) BUT IS JUST A PIECE OF PAPER. I could go on and on......
Owner, VDI
2 年What would you do Bob? Just curious. I’d make sure those inspections got done correctly or my name won’t be in that report.