Certainly good CRM and all kudos to the cabin crew. But surely this should go without saying - at least in those airlines where all staff (ground or air) are respected for the job they do.
Certainly in my flying days I expressly said to the entire crew during the pre-flight brief that they were expected to bring any concerns (even those from pax) to my attention - without any fear at all of me being dismissive. This was particularly & specifically emphasised during ops where de-ice was expected / a possibility. It was part of my job & responsibilities. Don't all airline Captains do this still? If the upcoming professional flight crews don't have a similar, personal, policy then they should! Learn something from us old dinosaurs.
Also HOT can be extremely brief - especially so in freezing rain! It would be impossible as well as impractical for a pilot to visually check all flying surfaces. Leaning out of open doors to inspect a tail surface would also be personally very hazardous - not to mention alarming the pax! Daft & dangerous. And sooner or later someone would blow a chute......