Using our 'safety voice'?

Using our 'safety voice'

Our willingness to use our ‘safety voice’ can be affected by our culture, seniority, age, gender …. but how well we speak English can be the most important factor of all.


Over the holidays I enjoyed ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell. Chapter 7 of this book is called The Ethnic Theory of Plane Crashes; Gladwell makes the case that when it comes to plane crashes, where the pilots are from matters as much as how well they are trained (click here for a summary).

Geert Hofstede, a Dutch psychologist, developed the Power Distance Index (PDI) which indicates how likely individuals from a given country are to push back against authority. For example, the United States’ PDI is very low, while it is very high in countries like Colombia, Brazil and South Korea. (A ‘low’ PDI means its people are more likely to push back against authority while a ‘high’ PDI means less likely).

In aviation, we have known for some time that a person’s ability to ‘speak out’ (to use their ‘safety voice’) is closely linked to national culture, seniority, age and sometimes gender.

However, there is a lack of awareness that English language ability can also play a key role.

To say ‘I think there's a problem’ | ‘That's not correct’ | 'I need help' takes courage and confidence, especially if the person you are addressing is senior to you.

But the challenge becomes considerably harder if English is not your first language and the person you’re addressing is a native speaker (who may also be impatient and unskilled at accommodating, adapting his / her English). In many cases, it's 'easier' to remain silent.

As a Kuwaiti flight instructor said: 'I know for a fact that many non native speakers are intimidated by the way native speakers use the language and they’re terrified from both not understanding them and also being embarrassed in front of those around them'.

Am I wrong? Don’t be shy - speak out ??

Barbra Colledge

English Language Teacher for Aviation @ Flight-English.com - An online course - Communication for Aviation

2 年

Yes, politeness is very much a very British attribute. I recall occasions whilst attending the flight deck every 20 mins as L1 position in First Class; Not all pilots made polite requests for food, drink or general chit chat. I learnt not to take it personally, it is a cultural/linguistic issue. Back to your initial post regarding FUNCTIONAL LANGUAGE and different ways of conveying and checking meaning. I agree, direct plain English is the language needed to convey meaning but pilots still need to be aware of the language which exists within its context. As a teacher, I would teach this in a communicative way, role play, where pilots can actually use the language being taught works well.

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Jim Nelson

I'm a Global captain based in Los Angeles. I have many years as a corporate pilot and I love sharing my knowledge and experience. Problem solving and teamwork make it all happen.

2 年

Language has many different levels of forcefulness and directness. English does not use a subjunctive, a way in some languages of qualifying or softening a statement (or it does, but it is obsolete.) English speakers use other ways of qualifying and softening statements that require fluency to understand. Cultural values for this also vary widely. However, I always tell people it is much more important to be direct and clear than to be polite with me.

Sonia Abi Raad

MSc Air Safety Management / Safety Specialist Operations at flydubai

2 年

There are many reasons why some tend not to speak out, language barrier, fear of embarrassment or lack of assertiveness, fear of reprimand etc.. list goes on really! For me speaking out in English has never been a problem because I started learning it since I was a child but trying to learn French and speaking the words out loud was tough as I was very self conscious.. so I suppose it must be tough for some people who needs to speak another language they are not comfortable in, in their profession

Jim Turner

Vice President of Maintenance and Program Development at Everts Air Cargo

2 年

Whenever I fly with a new pilot, particularly a recent new hire, part of my brief addresses that specific point. I have 16,000 hours of experience, Captain, Check Pilot, APD, Senior Management, etc, and I fully understand the hesitancy to correct me. I assure them that I will make mistakes and I welcome their input at any time. I would rather save a violation/incident than saving face. Please speak up ladies and gentlemen! It is welcome and appreciated. Jim

Tihomir Dzingov

Regulatory Trainer

2 年

Bad or lack of Crew (Company) Resources Training

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