A Change in Plans: Putting Safety to Work

By Carl Potter, CSP

Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment. - Barry LePatner

Following a recent speaking engagement, I was faced with a safety decision much like the ones many of you face. I had flown myself to an airport near the client’s location and planned to fly home on the afternoon following my program. But, the weather wasn’t cooperating with my well laid plans.

I checked the weather conditions and found that at the altitude at which I would be flying, the wind was blowing about 55 knots (about 63 MPH) in the opposite direction from where I was headed. Such a head wind would slow me down and make the long flight turbulent. Most runways between my departure airport and home were 90 degrees to the wind, creating crosswinds that exceeded my airplane’s rated physical capability. This was important because, as a pilot, I always have backup plans along the route in case I need to make an emergency landing.

Given all this and although I really wanted to get home, I made the decision to stay overnight. My ultimate goal was to get home safe. And, the weather looked promising for the next morning.

The next day, I awoke to clouds that began at 1,500 feet above the ground and were about 2,000 feet thick, an air temperature of 34 degrees, and reports of light icing in the clouds; this made me nervous. I had more decisions to make that concerned my education, experience, environment, and equipment.

As an electrical utility worker, I faced similar decisions. Training and education helped us make decisions based on environmental conditions. Lightning in the area (within 10 miles) caused us to shut down jobs. Ice on the roads meant that we would leave the shop only for emergencies. High winds changed our plans when we were operating equipment such as cranes and man lifts. In other words, our education, experience, environmental conditions, and equipment caused us to reassess decisions to make sure that nobody gets hurt. My flight home was no different; I wanted to get home uninjured with my airplane undamaged.

The education and experience I have as an instrument-rated pilot improved my piloting skills and judgment. Judgment is a term for using all the information available to make a decision resulting in a desired outcome. I’m educated and experienced in the use of all the instruments in my plane, so I knew that wouldn’t be a problem. I knew that my plane was rated to handle light icing for short periods of time. However, I was not experienced in flying in these conditions, so I needed some extra information from someone more experienced and knowledgeable. I called my instructor, Matt Brennecke, a qualified Lear 35 captain with thousands of hours of personal flying and instructing. He is also highly experienced in flying my type of aircraft.

Matt asked me what the conditions were. We discussed the information I had and he verified it on the Internet. He coached me by first confirming the information and then describing the safe operating procedures for my plane under the given conditions. These procedures included having all my radios and navigation equipment preset so that I was not distracted while flying in the clouds. He also described how to communicate with the air traffic controllers (ATC) so they would know that I needed to move up through the cloud layer quickly.

I was well-prepared because I was educated, knew my equipment, and was watching the environment and it was time to take off. The cloud layer was between 1500 and 3500 feet. When I reached 2,500 feet, ATC held me there for only a moment because I told them, “I am at 2,500 with an outside temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit and picking up ice.” At this point they quickly cleared me to 6,000 feet.

While I was climbing through that ice-filled cloud, I would have bet you that the airplane was turning because of the way it felt, but knowledge and training kicked in. I could hear Matt’s ‘instructor’ voice, “Trust the instruments and not your butt!” He was correct, the plane was level and the instruments told the story.

At 4,000 feet, I broke out to a beautiful sight - clear blue skies and sunshine! The plane was covered with a thin layer of ice and still climbing. Without following the plan, I may have believed what I was feeling rather than the instruments, and the results would have been tragic. Good knowledge, experience (mine and Matt’s) coupled with skills training led to a wonderful flight home with a nice tailwind.

Safety in your industry is much like my flight experience. We must be prepared for current conditions and a changing environment. Our judgment must be continually improved so that we can do our jobs. Whether you are working in an electrical utility, the manufacturing, refining, or petro-chemical industry or as a pilot for an airline, you must continually learn and practice your trade in a professional manner. Sometimes our education and experience is the only way we overcome changing conditions during a job.

This week during your safety meetings, ask these questions:

1. What are the performance limits of our equipment?

2. What instruments do we use that we have to trust?

3. What procedures do we use that should never be changed and is there a condition that would cause us to change the procedure?

4. How well do we plan our jobs, work the plan and prepare for changes in plans so that everyone goes home, every day without and injury?

Make it one of your safe work practices to assess your education, experience, equipment, and environment frequently for every new task during the day. You’ll find that your jobs go smoother without an incident so everyone can go home every day without an injury.