Experience guides propulsion safety Published Oct. 16, 2009 By Howdy Stout Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- As a production engineer for an oil company, Chris Burden didn't care much about safety. That is, he didn't care until someone got hurt. "One of my best friends got injured," Mr. Burden explains. "That's what really got me to understand what safety was all about." Now, worker safety isn't just a personal interest, it's his job. Mr. Burden is a safety inspector and supervisor for the 72nd Propulsion Safety Office. Based in Bldg. 3001, the propulsion safety office is dedicated to preventing mishaps in the maintenance of some of the Air Force's most complicated and powerful aircraft engines. "My goal is to reach a worker and make sure they see the value of safety," Mr. Burden says. "Bottom line, what safety is all about is making the workplace safe. When we do have mishaps, we investigate them to find the root cause and come up with recommendations. And it's not as easy as you think." More often than not, mishaps are the result of shortcutting a procedure to speed up work. "Sometimes we have great policies and equipment and procedures, but (workers) take shortcuts because it's not the way they want to get the job done," explains 72nd ABW safety inspector Karol Glessner. "There's always a good reason why someone does something." Safety inspector Mark Normandin, 72nd ABW, served nine years in the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic and understands the pressure to shortcut sometimes tedious safety procedures in an effort to get the job done. "As an aircraft mechanic, you just want to get the job done," he says. In one instance, Mr. Normandin recalls, he used a cigarette lighter to heat shrink an electrical wire covering on an F-15 external fuel tank rather than follow the technical orders requiring the removal of the wiring itself. "We took a lighter inside the fuel tank," he said. "Looking back, that was very unsafe." Shortcutting procedures might not result in an accident the first time it's done, Mr. Normandin says, but eventually it will. And as a result, when accidents do happen by skirting safety procedures, those involved are often reluctant to tell the truth for fear of disciplinary action. But safety office investigations cannot be used for disciplinary actions, Mr. Burden says. In fact, the results of safety investigations are kept confidential and are not subject to outside interference. "That's the law," he says. Instead, the sole intent of any safety investigation is to prevent future accidents. "That's why it's so important to investigate accidents," he says, "to get to the root cause to prevent it." Sometimes, finding the cause of an accident involves researching previous accident investigation reports for similarities and clues. An Air Force-wide database of past accident investigations is available to safety inspectors. The cause of an engine failure might be as simple as an incorrectly assembled component. By sharing investigation results, safety inspectors are sharing knowledge that might prevent similar accidents elsewhere. "Sometimes we have to look at old mishaps, like a lawyer looks at old cases," Mr. Burden says. "A $1.50 bolt in a $6 million engine might cause a million dollars worth of damage. Our job is not just preventing people from getting hurt, it's preventing equipment damage. That's protecting our dollars also." Ultimately, he says, it protects the warfighter. But the safety office doesn't just consider existing procedures. They are involved in the planning of new procedures and even newly designed workplaces. With the implementation of Lean and other transformation initiatives to improve maintenance efficiency come other safety issues. Something as simple as locating maintenance processes closer together may speed efficiency but raise other safety issues. "When we bring in a new process, safety is involved before it's turned over to the workers," Mr. Burden says. "With safety, a lot of it is like fighting a fire. And the best way to fight a fire is with planning." Just as important to worker safety is the input of the workers themselves, who are often the best judge as to what is safe and unsafe. "He is the most knowledgeable person on what goes on out there," Mr. Burden says. "They are the ones who know where the hazards are." "The workers that work the machines, they know the hazards," agrees Mr. Normandin. Mr. Normandin says he regularly asks workers what their safety concerns are. The often already have the answers to their own concerns. That's where the Volunteer Protection Program comes in. As the name suggests, VPP is a voluntary commitment by the Air Force to improve safety standards above and beyond those required by federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations. Safety inspectors encourage workers to learn about safety issues and to look for ways to improve their own workplace. "They need to have a voice in it and we need to listen to it," Mr Normandin says. "We want the workers to work their own issues as much as possible," explains Ms. Glessner. The safety office regularly gives presentations and participates in safety discussions with managers, supervisors and workers. The participation of supervisors and managers, who support improved safety through policy changes or equipment recommended by workers, is also encouraged because safety isn't any one person's responsibility. "We all have the same goal; to reduce mishaps and make sure the workers are safe," Mr. Normandin says. "With safety," Mr. Burden says, "we're all going to win." Editor's note: This is the second in a series of how safety impacts the mission.