PAXboy
1st Nov 2011, 21:55
I have thought carefully before posting here but this is my 'home' forum and this is a fine example of a problem that is sometimes mentioned in these forums. Namely: Pressure on staff to do more for less. More work in less time that can lead to corners being cut.
Now, I am well aware that the airline world is highly regulated and so on and so forth BUT human nature will usually prevail. It is our old enemy 'the normalisation of deviance'. That is, when people have deviated from the rules for a long time and nothing has gone wrong, so it is thought that nothing will go wrong.
One example is the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986.
One example is the Kings Cross tube station fire in November 1987.
Both events were warned about by engineers and both events still occurred. As I recall, those warnings were given well in advance for the Tube and immediately before in the Shuttle case.
Here is an event where an email exists warning mgnt a YEAR before the crash, with injury and death to passengers.
... the inquest was told how Mr Lewis sent an email to his bosses one year before the crash, in which he described the inspection system as a "shambles". Mr Lewis said in his email: "It's time for the hierarchy to stop ducking the issue and sort this shambles out once and for all... ensuring the infrastructure is now safe and fit for purpose is now virtually impossible.
The inquest jury also heard how Mr Lewis and his team were "under staffed" and "under pressure" and their work was "not entirely compliant".
Colleague Paul Wills, an assistant track section manager for Network Rail, told the inquest staff had to put up with "bully-boy" management.
He said workers had been harassed while carrying out inspections of the track in Cumbria and a backlog of maintenance work had piled-up due to lack of time.
There is more: BBC News - Grayrigg inquest: Engineer 'forgot' to inspect track (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-15544690)
Now, I am well aware that the airline world is highly regulated and so on and so forth BUT human nature will usually prevail. It is our old enemy 'the normalisation of deviance'. That is, when people have deviated from the rules for a long time and nothing has gone wrong, so it is thought that nothing will go wrong.
One example is the Space Shuttle Challenger in January 1986.
One example is the Kings Cross tube station fire in November 1987.
Both events were warned about by engineers and both events still occurred. As I recall, those warnings were given well in advance for the Tube and immediately before in the Shuttle case.
Here is an event where an email exists warning mgnt a YEAR before the crash, with injury and death to passengers.
... the inquest was told how Mr Lewis sent an email to his bosses one year before the crash, in which he described the inspection system as a "shambles". Mr Lewis said in his email: "It's time for the hierarchy to stop ducking the issue and sort this shambles out once and for all... ensuring the infrastructure is now safe and fit for purpose is now virtually impossible.
The inquest jury also heard how Mr Lewis and his team were "under staffed" and "under pressure" and their work was "not entirely compliant".
Colleague Paul Wills, an assistant track section manager for Network Rail, told the inquest staff had to put up with "bully-boy" management.
He said workers had been harassed while carrying out inspections of the track in Cumbria and a backlog of maintenance work had piled-up due to lack of time.
There is more: BBC News - Grayrigg inquest: Engineer 'forgot' to inspect track (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-15544690)