Safety Messages Videos

At 7:45 p.m. on April 20, 2010, four British Petroleum and Transocean VIP’s landed aboard Deepwater Horizon for a Management Visibility Tour. The agenda: to credit the crew for 7 years with no lost-time injuries, and to check workplace conditions for occupational hazards found recently on other rigs. Seven hours later, the worst oil rig blowout and offshore spill in U.S. history transpired. Had there been focus on process safety, in addition to Institutional Safety, the blowout may have been averted. 

From the Challenger and Columbia disasters, to the Costa Concordia running aground, to the recent ISS EVA 23 event, all have involved normalization of deviance and groupthink. Understanding the symptoms of these two conditions can help us plan for them, avoid them and stop them.

It doesn't have to be spectacular to hurt. A lot of people get hurt doing unspectacular things, such as preparing food, cutting across lawns, tripping on floor mats and lifting and moving objects. People also get hurt when they are unfamiliar with their workplace and the associated hazards.

What NASA does is risky. When we bring new people on board, it is imperative that we train them in general safety practices and specific hazards of the job and environment. Managers need to be sure that all employees are aware of what they need to do to work safely. All NASA employees need to know what to do in an emergency and how to report safety concerns. Preventing unspectacular mishaps will help prevent larger and more serious mishaps.

Technical Authorities in engineering, safety and mission assurance, and health and medical all play an important role in NASA's decision-making processes. Hear Administrator Charles Bolden deliver this month's Safety Message on the importance of Technical Authority.

Listen to Steve Foster, acting chief of the Quality Assurance Branch, present the May Safety Message on counterfeit parts.

Listen as William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations, presents the April Safety Message on the ISS EVA 23 Suit Water Intrusion.

Dr. Mark Matney from NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office discusses orbital debris and space safety in the March Safety Message.

Every year as we get back in the saddle, our Remembrance Day signals us to think back to the tragic events of Apollo 1, Challenger and Columbia as well as the context surrounding them. We're accountable for learning from not just what went wrong, but how we recovered. As an example, read these rules recorded by Wayne Hale, former NASA flight director and Space Shuttle Program manager. By actually applying such lessons from the past to your current work, our actions can honor our lost crews beyond silent reflection.