Play Defense

Is your crew on the defensive?

James Reason, in his seminal book Managing the Risks of Organizational Accidents, defines defensive functions as the following,
Create understanding and awareness of local hazards,Give clear guidance on how to operate safely,
Provide alarms and warnings when danger is imminent,
Restore the system to a safe state in an off normal situation,Interpose safety barriers between the hazards and the potential losses,
Contain and eliminate the hazards should they escape this barrier

Provide a means of escape and rescue should hazard containment fail.

It is this multiplicity of defenses that makes complex technological systems proof against single deficiencies.

The helicopter crew fulfills all these functions and provides the operation with a robust resistance to failure.

In Search of the Perfect Crew