How safe is the sport of soaring today

Bruce Greeff bgpub wrote:

As a safety officer I will add a fourth reason.
4. Accidents create a lot of work for other people.
[snip]
For the last three years, every time someone in
my club screws up, I have to do a lot of paperwork
and review our operating procedures to check that
they are valid. I would much rather be up there in
my glider...

That's incentive if I ever heard it!... sure wouldn't want anyone to have to do
any paperwork or spend time looking at operating procedures! I would hope a
safety officer would gladly give up time that could be spent on a flight or two
reviewing the vallidity of operating procedures at least a couple of times/year
whether it was prompted by someone screwing up or not. Isn't *anyone* screwing
up, even if it doesn't result in an accident and even if it's the LAST person
you'd expect to screw up, always an opportunity for *everyone* to stop and
re-evaluate?

--Shirley

Shirley wrote:

Bruce Greeff bgpub wrote:


As a safety officer I will add a fourth reason.
4. Accidents create a lot of work for other people.
[snip]
For the last three years, every time someone in
my club screws up, I have to do a lot of paperwork
and review our operating procedures to check that
they are valid. I would much rather be up there in
my glider...


That's incentive if I ever heard it!... sure wouldn't want anyone to have to do
any paperwork or spend time looking at operating procedures! I would hope a
safety officer would gladly give up time that could be spent on a flight or two
reviewing the vallidity of operating procedures at least a couple of times/year
whether it was prompted by someone screwing up or not. Isn't *anyone* screwing
up, even if it doesn't result in an accident and even if it's the LAST person
you'd expect to screw up, always an opportunity for *everyone* to stop and
re-evaluate?

--Shirley

Hi Shirly

I spend a lot of time on operating procedures and safety audits and education
about safety to try to influence attitude in a safety direction. My predecessors
and I have been quite successful. One moderate injury in 13 years is not bad.

My objection is not to doing constructive work - but a whole lot of paperwork
and checking that the procedures did address whatever incident happened, and
placating the burocrats is a waste of time. I think my time is better spent at
the field - including being there when people do things that are unsafe and get
away with it, so I can do something constructive to lower the chance of a
recurrence.

I have no issue with real accidents, this sport can be dangerous. But when
someone causes damage or injury to themselves or others through hubris or
overconfidence or negligence or any other variation of bad attitude; it is an
avoidable accident, and inconsiderate of others.

Why should a whole team of volunteer people have to do a whole lot of work to
sort out the aftermath because one person felt it their right to endanger
themselves. Anyone with the attitude of 'it's my problem if what I am doing is
dangerous, because I will only harm myself', is failing to consider the
community they operate in, and in our case would be shown the clubhouse door. No
hard feelings but we can get by without them.

Maybe I'm just an old curmudgeon...