A Tribute to Astronaut Heroes by safety speaker John Drebinger

Using Events or Anniversaries to Teach Safety

Events and anniversaries of events can both serve to commemorate people and be a safety discussion point.

Sunday January 27th, 2013 was the anniversary of the Apollo One fire where Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee died on Pad 34.

And Monday was the anniversary of when the NASA family lost seven of its own on the morning of Jan. 28, 1986, when a booster engine failed, causing the Shuttle Challenger to break apart just 73 seconds after launch. Sharon Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith A. Resnik, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Ronald E. McNair, Mike J. Smith, and Ellison S. Onizuka.
On a personal note Greg Jarvis worked for my dad at Hughes in El Segundo, CA.

Both events were partially the result of rushing forward and not placing a high enough value on safety. In the case of Apollo One we were racing to the moon doing whatever it took to beat the former Soviet Union. In the case of Challenger some believe that the White House wanted the launch to occur prior to the State of the Union Address. The additional time pressure resulted in less than the safest decisions. While both these explanations are oversimplified they are useful to make a teaching point.

Pay attention to the daily news and keep up on the anniversaries of events that you could use to illustrate a safety concept you want to get across.  If you were discussing the events described earlier you could reflect on any way you or your organization may be rushing without taking safety into account. As a safety speaker I have heard far to many stories of this type.

Yours in Service,
John Drebinger Jr.

Have a safe day and please take a moment to check out my DVD, Ensure Your Safety (Click Here)