Safety Messages Videos

While national interest is focused on Moon 2024 and commercial crew testing, our duty of care to protect the public and our employees from terrestrial research hazards has not diminished. In the domain of radiation testing for spaceflight components, our Radiation Safety Officers work hard to provide “yes, if” controls to use radiation sources safely on a regular basis. Presented by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this is a success story of control over Cobalt-60 pellets used to impose a Total Ionizing Dose on Electrical, Electronic and Electromechanical parts.

As many of you have heard me say, I believe that taking care of your people is essential to success. I’ve told the story that in the U.S. Marine Corps, all leaders are asked to do two things: accomplish the mission and take care of your people. Usually, this is followed with “If you do No. 2, your people will take care of No. 1.”

An important part of taking care of your people and accomplishing your mission, is ensuring, throughout your organization, people feel comfortable speaking up, without fear of reprisal. We have seen first-hand the effects fear of reprisal can have on a culture, as it was a theme for both the Challenger and Columbia mishaps, and we need to ensure that we’ve learned from our past and cultivate an environment where speaking up is not just accepted, but applauded. We also need to look at the ways we engage and include all members of the NASA family.

I encourage you to review all the data available in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and consider how you can enact positive change at every level in your organization to create an open, safe environment for everyone.

In February 2016, the University of Hawaii had an incident where a highly reactive mix of pressurized gases within a high-pressure tank encountered a spark, likely from static electricity. As a result, the tank was blown apart, seriously injuring the researcher and causing significant equipment damage.

While this incident didn’t happen at NASA, we should ask, have we protected our pressure systems from similar risk? In this month’s Safety Message, Steve Lilley, senior safety engineer from the NASA Safety Center, briefs the recent System Failure Case Study on this incident, including how NASA can learn from this major mishap.

If you were having surgery, you would hope your surgeon was coming in well-rested and focused on the job — after all, your life is in her hands. While we may not be performing life-and-death surgeries, that doesn’t mean our employees lives aren’t in our hands. It’s essential that we all check on our employees and make sure they are fully prepared for the job at hand each and every day — whether that’s ensuring reasonable shifts, making sure everyone is up-to-speed coming off a shift change or checking on an employee’s ability to continue working after an incident. It's part of taking care of your people.

In this month’s Safety Message, Safety and Mission Assurance Director for Stennis Space Center Freddie Douglas III will present “Did You Check on Your Team?” with tips on how to assure a safe, productive and efficient work place.

After years of important warnings, we are now all aware of the dangers of traditional smoking. But what about vaping? Is it still risky despite the lack of tobacco? Are there still dangerous chemicals I could inhale second hand?

Vaping is the act of inhaling water vapor through a personal vaporizer or electronic cigarette. While this is a newer trend, there are some interesting statistics about their use, as well as some pros and cons. In this month’s Safety Message, Dr. Vince Michaud, deputy chief health and medical officer, discusses this information, governmental regulations and NASA's policies on vaping, as well as the agency's smoking cessation programs at center clinics. 

Your coworker collapses. Your boss falls and hits her head. An intern cuts his hand. What would you do?

The first few minutes after a serious injury are critical. While it’s only natural to feel a moment of shock, your quick thinking and ability to respond can help save the life of an injured person. You are the first responder.

This month’s Safety Message walks you through how the body responds to an emergency situation as well as what you should do should you ever be the first responder on the scene. These scenarios have happened: We’ve seen storms strike several of our centers that threaten to injure our employees and employees have collapsed on the job due to medical conditions. Eventually, these things, and more, will happen again. Are you ready?

Each year in the U.S., over 5.4 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are treated in more than 3.3 million people. There are more new cases of skin cancer than breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer combined. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer over the course of a lifetime. Melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, can develop from less dangerous types of skin cancer. Although simple screening exams can catch this process before it begins, one person dies of melanoma every hour. We are all vulnerable.

As a member of the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention, NASA has been working to lower these statistics. The first year on the council, NASA was awarded the American Academy of Dermatology's Golden Triangle Award for our agencywide skin cancer prevention efforts.

Please take time to view this message from NASA's Chief Health and Medical Officer Dr. J.D. Polk and remember to set up a screening exam during your next physical. It’s quick and simple and could possibly save your life.

Does NASA’s culture pay tribute to overwork? A look at the careers of our best-known engineers, scientists and safety specialists can lead to a simple conclusion: long days and nights, accompanied by high stress, lead to high achievement. Successful research and exploration don’t happen without the investment of time and effort.

However, cumulative fatigue is not just unhealthy, it’s unproductive. We behave as if intoxicated, showing impaired judgment and slowed reflexes. No amount of coffee, energy drinks or other stimulants allows us to “power through” the exhaustion.

This month’s Safety Message focuses on the effects of fatigue in the workplace as well as countermeasures to prevent or mitigate those effects. I encourage you to discuss how to combat workplace fatigue with your staff and work to implement smarter scheduling and recognize human limitations.

As many of you have heard me say, I believe that taking care of your people is essential to success. I’ve told the story that in the U.S. Marine Corps, all leaders are asked to do two things: accomplish the mission and take care of your people. Usually, this is followed with “If you do No. 2, your people will take care of No. 1.”

An important part of taking care of your people and accomplishing your mission, is ensuring, throughout your organization, people feel comfortable speaking up, without fear of reprisal. We have seen first-hand the effects fear of reprisal can have on a culture, as it was a theme for both the Challenger and Columbia mishaps, and we need to ensure that we’ve learned from our past and cultivate an environment where speaking up is not just accepted, but applauded.

As we approach the 15-year anniversary of the Columbia accident, I encourage you to review all the data available in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey and consider how you can enact positive change at every level in your organization to create an open, safe environment for everyone.