"What we have here is a failure to communicate"

Combat Edge, July-August, 2007 by Roy S. Walls

We've all heard the expression "putting the cart ahead of the horse." It seems that we do that quite frequently by not following Tech Orders, Air Force Instruction, etc., just to hurry task completion. Now, I know you're thinking, "Here's another Do This but Don't Do that story," and yeah, maybe you're right, but please hear me out. It takes constant vigilance and continuous communication, not just by supervision, but everyone involved in the daily mission to make sure that each and every one of us goes home at the end of the day with all assigned body parts and no major cuts, bumps or bruises.

Speaking of supervision, the Air Force puts a lot of emphasis on the duties and responsibilities of a supervisor. Supervisors, just to list a few of their many duties, must be knowledgeable of all the hazards involved in a ground, weapons or flight operation; convey emergency procedures to workers; and complete job safety analyses and operational hazard analysis to ensure worker, equipment, and work-environment compatibility. People work more safely and effectively when properly trained and motivated. Supervisors must keep their people constantly involved in the risk management process.

Whether at work or home, everyone has a supervisor--especially married men. Case in point: As a safety professional, it's easy to look back on all the unsafe acts that I've committed around the home front. But you know, at the time I did them, they all seemed like really good ideas (in my mind anyway). The very things I argue against today are things that I ignored in my younger days, thinking, "It won't hurt to do it this way, nothing is going to happen," or by not using the correct safety equipment or established methods for the task at hand. Good, practical, established common sense can keep a lot of us out of harm's way if we'd remember to use it. A wise man once said, "The thing about common sense is that it is not that common."

Some years back, my wife had been after me to throw away an old worn out pair of shoes--sandals to be exact, and comfortable. I just can't begin to describe how I felt about those old worn-out shoes--the soles no longer had any tread and one strap partially frayed--but some days I couldn't get home fast enough and get comfortable. As the story goes, "There I was" ... going out the back door, after a brief rainshower, when, before I knew what was happening, my feet flew out from under me. Luckily, I was able to grab the handrail after my south end anatomy tried a little break dancing on the first and second steps. Whew!! Lucky this time I thought. After a quick glance around to make sure the neighbors or worse yet, my boss (wife), hadn't witnessed my act of stupidity, I completed a quick battle damage assessment rating of "No injuries to report." I proceeded on about my business.

But the story doesn't end here. Yep, you guessed it; I performed the same feat several days later ... same scenario ... raining, my favorite pair of shoes, and the same back door steps! This time I didn't fair as well as the first. Battle damage revealed one broken shoe strap (non-mission capable), scrapes on my back, arms, legs, bruises, and bumps (some in places I didn't even know I had places for bumps--but no broken bones). But the worse was yet to come. The boss heard me falling down the steps, so she was there in ample time to see me complete my barrel rolls. Once she was assured that I was all right and helped me up, I thought the verbal barrage would never cease--phrases like "Are you trying to cull yourself from the gene pool?"; "Do you think some mistakes are too much fun to only make once?"

We've all heard it a thousand times in our Air Force careers, but the point to make here is that the Air Force has and continuously spends countless dollars on research and development to make sure that for every task assigned, it has been tested for application and theory and put into writing for us to follow and the personal protective equipment issued is of the utmost quality.

So, to avoid my wrongdoings, supervisors please go that extra mile to keep your employees out of harm's way; employees, do your part by following all written directives, ask questions if unsure in what direction to proceed with an assigned task, use risk management to identify, reduce, or eliminate risk in activities on and off duty. And that my friend is why it takes communication between all of us to make this thing work!

by TSgt Roy S. Walls, Barksdale AFB, La.