April 2007 issue

apr 07
RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
Back to the
Future
pg. 2
pg. 16
cover
This
cover
illustrates
the
transformation efforts the RSAF has
taken through recent years. Although
ever-changing, the RSAF still believes
the importance of basics, especially in
safety.
editorial board
CHAIRMAN
Strike Two!
One More and
You’re Out!
contents
1
Foreword
2
Back to the Future
Reflection on Safety in a Transforming Air Force
7
ISO 9001 & OHSAS 18001 Certification /
Outstanding Safety Award
8
Are You Safe? Are You Aware?
Enhancing Safety by Enhancing Situational Awareness:
A Glimpse into the Future
13 Best Unit Safety Officers and Specialists 06/07
COL Kevin Teoh
14 Unit Accident-Free Flying Years Award
MEMBERS
15 Chief of Air Force Safety Award
LTC Chris Lim
LTC Mike Yeo
LTC Suresh Nava
MR Edward Pang
MAJ David Aeria
MAJ William Sim
MAJ (Dr.) Adrian Loh
CPT (Dr.) Allan Ooi
Ms Audrey Siah
PRODUCTION CREW
Editor
MAJ David Aeria
Assistant / Photographer
2WO Tommy Low
Graphic Design & illustration
VaCAIN DESIGN
vacain@vacaindesign.com.sg
Appreciation
The Focus editorial extends its
appreciation to MAJ (Dr.) Adrian
Loh and 2WO Tommy Low
for their invaluable
contributions. We would like to
welcome CPT (Dr.) Allan Ooi to
the board.
16 Strike Two! One More and You’re Out!
A F-5 Pilot’s Encounter with Lightning During Flight
20 PEL and SQT - What’s That?
Reflection on Safety Management - A Commanding Officer’s Perspective
26 Hyping it Up
Safety Publicity in the RSAF
Thank you, Tommy
On behalf of the editorial board, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to 2W0 Tommy Low, who
has served in the Air Force Inspectorate and has been instrumental in the evolution of the FOCUS
magazine and what it stands for today. His many contributions have not gone unnoticed, and
has benefited the organisation in a big way. After a prolific tour of almost 5 years in AFI, Tommy
is moving on, rendering his final contribution in this edition of FOCUS. We wish him all the best
in his new unit and career in the RSAF.
Focus is published by Air Force Inspectorate, HQ RSAF, for accident prevention purpose. Use of information contained herein
for purposes other than accident prevention, requires prior authorisation from AFI. The content of FOCUS are of an informative
nature and should not be considered as directive or regulatory unless so stated. The opinions and views in this magazine are
those expressed by the writers and do not reflect the official views of the RSAF. The contents should not be discussed with
the press or anyone outside armed services establishment. Contributions by way of articles, cartoons, sketches and photographs
are welcome as are comments and criticisms.
Focus magazine is posted on these sites :
http://afi.rsaf.mindef/afi/index.html (intranet)
www.mindef.gov.sg/rsaf/alert/nl-afn.asp (internet)
foreword
By COL Kevin Teoh
Head Air Force Inspectorate
As we come to the end of the workyear, I would like to reflect on AFI's milestones and
achievements for the past year. Firstly, there was the re-organisation of the department. After
the approval was granted in November of 2005, AFI underwent its 4th re-organisation in April
2006. Sizeable roles and responsibilities were added to its portfolio. A new branch, the Logistics
Inspection Branch (LIB) was formed and Inspection Branch was renamed as Operations Inspection
Branch, aligning to its functional role and responsibilities. The second area of significant
accomplishment was the attainment of both ISO 9001:2000 and OHSAS 18001:1999 certifications
by AFI on 9 March 2007, after a year of intense planning, preparation and hard work. The effort
put in by all the staff within AFI underscores our commitment to a developing and maintaining
a quality Safety Management System which is benchmarked against international standards.
Looking ahead, there must always be a constant push to improve and build upon the solid
foundation that has been laid, maintaining the momentum that has been created. The level of
vigilance and professionalism that has been displayed throughout the year, as demonstrated
by numerous Safety Awards presented, demonstrates how engaged our RSAF personnel are
in the realm of Safety. It is important to reflect and share the lessons learnt from the events
of the past year in order to enhance the effectiveness of our Safety Management System.
We must continue to endeavour towards the collective goal of achieving "Zero Accident".
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So much has been said about safety in the RSAF, that it seems a
daunting task to ponder what other measures or improvements we
can adopt to increase awareness of this important element even more
and to minimise errors due to human fallibility.
In this short article, we look at how far we have come from the past
and what we could possibly do in the future to enhance the safety
culture in the Air Force even further.
THEN
Maintenance Procedures
Maintenance documentation for the older
aircraft types were not as detailed and one
had to actually learn by memory and actual
observation.
Trouble shooting of defects weighed heavily
on the experience of the individual as he only
had a circuit diagram and the pilot’s defect
report to relate to and find a solution.
As there were no trouble shooting guides to
aid the specialist, a thorough understanding
of the aircraft systems was an absolute
necessity in order to devise a workable course
of action to isolate and rectify the fault. While
this makes the specialist think carefully on
the actions to take after analysing the
discrepancy, the lack of a standard work
process can some times lead to disastrous
consequences.
2
MW0 M.A. Pathi is currently the Command Chief Warrant Officer
(CCWO) of Tengah Air Base. He was previously Chief WO at ALS, 140
& 143 SQNs. MWO Pathi attained his Advanced Diploma in Aerospace
Engineering and Management from the Singapore Polytechnic in 2001,
through CLASS sponsorship.
One event that happened due to lack of standardised
documented procedures occurred during an operational
checkout of store jettison system on a Hunter aircraft
during an overseas deployment. The checkout process
required a technician in the cockpit to depress the store
jettison button while another technician verifies the
presence of the corresponding electrical signal at the
pylon connector. However, technicians from the servicing
section carried out this test by measuring it at the
connector on the wing while flight line technicians
performed the same by measuring the signal at the pylon
connector which is downstream of the wing connector.
During the incident, the checkout was being performed
by two technicians from the servicing section. A squadron
technician performing an inspection on the top of the
aircraft saw that connector on the opposite wing was
disconnected and realised that it needed to be connected
in order for the signal to be measured at the pylon
connector. As soon as he inserted the connector, the
firing impulse signal went through the pylon connector
that was already connected to the explosive cartridges
and the fuel tank under the pylon jettisoned, narrowly
missing the knee of another technician.
There were no Job Guides or checklists in those days
and the checkout methods devised by the servicing section
and the flight line technicians were in principle, not faulty
in any way. It failed only when the technicians from two
separate workcentres were brought to work together, as
in this situation during a detachment.
Work Processes
Work processes and safety regulations were also not so
well articulated then, with many being frequently
promulgated or refined as a consequential action to actual
incidents or accidents.
With effective safety education incident prevention
programmes, the RSAF has instituted a relatively safe
working environment. In such a cocooned setting, safety
posters and classroom lessons alone may not convince
individuals of some of the dangers.
Many do not realise that some of the very SOPs that they
are reading were literally written in blood ie, someone had
actually paid a heavy price by being seriously injured or
even loosing their lives for the introduction of the work
processes or safe equipment.
One such example is the case of an individual at one of our
Ammo Depot who fell off a `farmer` tractor as it was
reversing. He sustained a serious head injury and
succumbed to it subsequently. The ‘farmer’ tractor had a
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single seat for the driver with no passenger seat. However,
it was common then, to have as many as 2 to 3 individuals
piling up on the tractor by standing on its axle and holding
on to the rear mud guards or to taking a ride in the trolleys
and equipment that were towed behind it. We now have
purpose built tow tractors and strict regulations governing
the number of personnel allowed on the tractor, including a
prohibition on personnel boarding the towed equipment.
The general apathy of such individuals besides the often ‘itwill-not-happen-to-me’ attitude is that they don’t realise
the consequences of their irresponsible actions. Effects
from contact with some hazardous fluids, for example due
to failure to don the appropriate PPEs, result in manifestation
of occupational health problems, after many years, long
after they have left the RSAF and often at a time when their
family needs them the most.
NOW
Introduction of behavioural-based safety programs have
yielded some results by employing education and intervention
both by peer influence and use of safety prefects or safety
warriors as they are called in some Air Bases.
RSAF and the Air Logistics Organisation has come a long
way from its early days. Now, with the introduction of new
processes, techniques and competitive benchmarks, it has
remoulded itself into a professional and reliable organisation.
Introduction of ISO9000, resulted in our work processes and
associated documentation becoming better articulated and
structured, so much so that the cause of incidents nowadays
are often due to personnel failing to abide by the regulations
rather then the lack of such instructions.
This ISO9000 certification has been revalidated time and
again by external auditors, which demonstrated clearly that
the Air Logistics Organisation`s quality processes are rooted
firmly into its work culture and benchmarked against the
best in the public sector.
With the basic work processes and safety awareness firmly
anchored down, RSAF is currently embarking on the
Occupational Health and Safety program, in line with the
Workplace Safety and Health Act, which would further enhance
the quality of work in its workcentres.
Gaps
Despite all this, we continue to witness human factor related
incidents.
We have the occasional maverick who chooses to go off the
beaten track by engaging in unsafe work practices, taking
unnecessary personal risks by not utilising the PPEs that
have been provisioned and made available at the workcentres.
4
With the RSAF reorganising itself into a 3rd Generation Air
Force, it is clear that any safety or HF incident will most
certainly impede the speed of its transformational efforts.
Considerable time and attention will need to be diverted to
investigate and correct these incidents; time and attention
that could be more productively employed towards the
achievement of RSAF’s transformational objectives.
In this regard, supervisors have an important part to play
in reducing and if not eliminating HF related incidents and
maintenance errors by taking personal responsibiity to
ensure the safe outcome of every task, be it in the sheltered
confines of a hangar or out in an open flightline.
It is important for all supervisors not to be lulled into
complacency and to scrutinise accord equal emphasis to
mundane day-to-day activities, to ensure that HF and safety
related incidents are kept at bay by effective preventive
measures and enforcement of safe work practices.
Many of our younger specialists did not have the opportunity
that their senior counterparts had, to witness some of the
occupational injuries or incidents and to appreciate the
importance of safety in the maintenance and operational
environment. It can be extremely painful for the individual
and costly to the organisation if these incidents recur due
to failure on the part of the supervisors to inculcate into the
juniors some of the valuable lessons learnt in the past.
WHAT CAN WE
DO BETTER
Skills Training
Classroom
instructions are
well structured in
the RSAF with General
Instructional Objectives
and Specific Instructional
Objectives mapping in
detail, the material that
is needed to be taught.
In skills training however, there is currently no
similar system to ensure that all essential information is
imparted to the trainee. When instructing or demonstrating
a task to trainees, it is important that the rationale for the
procedure or action is explained to the trainees.
The skills training program should be structured in a similar
manner to that for classroom lessons so that the quality of
training is consistent and trainee proficiency can be assured.
Part of the information that needs to be imparted to an onthe-job trainee are past incidents or accidents associated
to the task being taught.
Presented at an opportune time and being directly related
to the job being taught, the trainee will be able to retain the
lessons learnt more effectively. He is also able to better
appreciate the situation and how the incident or accident
could have occurred, as he can physically relate it to the job
that he is actually performing at that point in time.
Here the senior supervisors and Training ICs must constantly
be on the lookout for applicable articles to add to their
training repository.
Re-Currency Process
Another area that we can improve upon in the new and
transforming RSAF is on the applicability of our existing
technical currency validation programs. The basis of the
technical re-currency had originally been by accumulation
of work hours related to direct aircraft work.
This can mean that the individual could actually
perform the same tasks repeatedly and as long
as it is categorised as direct aircraft labour, he
would have met the reauthorisation criteria. In
recent years, this had been revised to a taskbased re-authorisation system, where
performance of specific maintenance actions are
pre-identified to ensure that the individual is
exposed to a variety of tasks before being
reauthorised. We can improve this even further
by defining the different categories of skills and
providing a clear rationale for application of the recurrency criteria. By instituting a clear guideline,
re-currency requirements for all future introductions of
maintenance tasks can be confidently determined. The
rationale for re-currency and technical proficiency validation
may be based on the following criteria:
• Task performed based on memory without T.O. or
instructions on hand for reference due to the nature of
the task or operation, ie. eg. launch, recovery, scramble
operations, etc. The potential for HF and maintenance
errors are high for individuals that are not current with
the procedures.
• Immediate action procedures that may require specialist
to react correctly in a specific sequence and at a rapid
pace eg. Critical action procedures in reaction to an
engine fire during a ground run, etc. Although the
checklists may be available, the specilaist in these
situations need to be thoroughly familiar and proficient
with the mitigative actions, which can only be attained
by periodic refresher training.
• High risk activities or concurrent operations where the
specialist needs to be psychologically prepared and work
together as a single cohesive team eg. Integrated Combat
Turnaround operations, Hot Pit Refuelling, handling live
munitions, etc. In such situations, recurrency
requirements ensure that the specialists are aware of
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the risks associated with a multi-team operation in a
environment. This is an absolute necessity in preventing
potential accidents due to lack of proficiency, the
consequential result of miscommunication, poor coordination, job sequencing or lack of situational
awareness.
By adopting the above approach, all existing tasks can be
screened and only those that fall under the criteria above
may need to be assessed for re-currency. Presence of well
documented Technical Manuals, Job Guides, etc will assure
the safe and thorough accomplishment of the other tasks
that do not come under the criteria above.
Continuous Trade Learning
To abide by the goals of RSAF’s 3rd
Generation transformation principles
pertaining to dedicated focus at every level,
we may also need to take a hard look at our
continuous training programs.
With the emphasis on precision strike
capabilities and introduction of new
weapon systems, there is a need for us
to focus on developing our core
competencies on skills training in these
areas to level-up our capabilities and
proficiency on these systems
during Continuous Trade
Learning (CTL) instead of
concentrating predominantly
on basic systems knowledgetype lessons. More
opportunities should thus be
provided during CTL to carry
out hands-on practical tasks
to enhance the proficiency,
skills and thus the overall
combat readiness of our
specialists. Operational aircraft
can be allocated for realistic
training purposes and to
maximise the training effort.
Fundamental technical and system knowledge however,
still needs to be nurtured as it forms an important
foundational pillar in the aviation maintenance profession.
Such fundamentals can be ingrained into our technicians
through self-study guides, and assessed by means of
mandatory quizzes and the annual Professional Knowledge
Examination (PKE).
Standardisation
With the introduction of ISO9000, units in the RSAF were
allowed to develop their own procedures for managing
their work processes as long as it was within the broad
principles stipulated in the higher orders. While the intent
here is to provide flexibility to the workcentres and to
encourage new ideas and methods, it may hamper
standardisation of work processes which are essential in
a military context.
The flexibility accorded by ISO9000 may be critical for
survival and competition of individual companies in the
commercial arena, but it may be counter productive in a
military unit where teamwork amongst its units is
critical in times of combined operations, TTW and war.
6
This does not mean that we should refrain or stem the
flow of development and and introduction of new ideas
and concepts. WITs and USMS programs are the bedrock
of creativity and innovation in the RSAF and this should
continue to be encouraged as it helps to keep the RSAF
at the forefront by improving our work processes and
operational capability in the workcentres. However, instead
of having a multitude of methods and work processes in
different workcentres, it may be prudent to identify the
best of these ideas and work processes and standardise
it across the RSAF units.
Units then do not have to waste precious brain-bytes, each
developing their own variation of common work
procedures. Standardisation of basic work processes and
the myriad of documentation that goes along with it will
also facilitate rapid assimilation of personnel transiting
from one unit to another. They will not have to waste time
relearning some of the most basic procedures before
actually contributing productively to the new unit.
This may be essential in actual operations where manpower
resources from different squadrons may have to work
hand in hand.
With the basic work processes and documentation being
standardised, units can focus on developing new
capabilities or honing their skills further to support existing
operations.
Conclusion
The air force, in the midst of transformation would require
conscientious effort of all specialists and officers to reduce
if not eliminate safety related incidents. This can also be
effected by education, creating awareness and enforcement
by all supervisors.
Past lessons learnt should be captured and reiterated to
the newer technicians as vividly as possible so that it has
a profound impact on these individuals and consequently
instill a safety culture in them to prevent such incidents
from recurring again in the future.
We should also use the experiences that we’ve gained
through the years to improve our operations by thinking
out of the box and improving on our current work
processes. These improvements, albeit being small and
incremental at times, may in total, help us reduce our
workload by streamlining our processes.
We must constantly be on the look out for better, safer
and more efficient ways of carrying out our tasks bearing
in mind the overall objectives of the air force and the
limited resources available to us. Legacy systems and
methods may occasionally need to be tweaked or even
completely overhauled to stay relevant with the air force’s
current goals.
Supervisors must make it their personal responsibility to
maintain safe operations by judiciously enforcing safety
and regulatory guidelines to eliminate HF incidents. .
Air Force Inspectorate (AFI) is proud to
announce that the department has
attained the ISO 9001:2000 - Quality
Management System (QMS) and the
OHSAS 18001:1999 - Occupational Health
and Safety Management System (OHSMS)
certification in Mar 2007. This is a strong
affirmation that both our current QMS
and OHSMS in AFI matches international
standards while ensuring the safety and
health of our staff at their respective
workplace.
Safety is one of the core values of the
RSAF. A strong Safety Management
System, coupled with a good safety record
will project a positive image of our
operational readiness and deterrence.
The attainment of the ISO 9001:2000 and
the OHSAS 18001:1999 certification is an
attestation of our ability and commitment
to achieve RSAF's overall safety mission.
AFI's ISO 9001:2000 certification was first
mooted by HAFI in May 06, a month after
the Logistics Inspection Branch (LIB) was
created in AFI. The OHSAS 18001:1999
certification was subsequently included
as AFI spearheaded the OSH initiatives
in the RSAF. The embarkation of both the
ISO 9001:2000 and OHSAS 18001:1999
certification signified the emphases of
high quality and safety management
standards to be maintained at all levels
and every aspects of the department.
While most of AFI's processes are already
in place, the certification journey has
provided an excellent opportunity for AFI
to review and rethink how we could be
further streamlined and strengthened. It
was a good educational and enriching
journey for all AFI staff, especially for the
Inspection Branches (OIB and LIB), as
we were put into the "auditee" position.
Overall, AFI has done very well in the
certification audit. There were zero "nonconformance" and 2 "opportunities for
improvement". Positive comments from
TUV SUD, the certifying agency, indicated
the positive attitude and the good
understanding of the ISO 9001:2000 and
OHSAS 18001 standards requirements
displayed by all AFI staff as well as the
good framework established within the
department. The challenge to maintain
the QMS and OHSMS to international
standards relies on our people's belief
and commitment together with the
necessary management emphases.
On 30 Apr 2006, during an exercise sortie, two pairs of fighters, Curtain (2 x F5S) and Mentor
(2 x F5S) were assigned to a Control Agency for Air Defence missions. However, Curtain and
Mentor went under the control of separate controllers within the same Area of Operations.
After intercepting a group of bogeys, Curtain was assigned the defenders' height block of 700010000ft by Controller A to reset their CAP. At this point, Mentor, at 9000ft,
acquired a radar contact and was informed by Controller B that it was an
unknown and directed Mentor for an intercept, without realising that the
unknown was actually Curtain. With both formations in the same altitude
block, and lateral separation quickly reducing, the control team
transmitted on GUARD 243.0Mhz to direct the aircraft to take avoidance
action.
The control team (MAJ Lau Mun Leng, CPT James Goh, CPT Andy
Yong, CPT Teo Weo Keong and LTA Eng Kian Tiong) had taken the
extra effort of keeping a watch over operations conducted under
a separate control agency, based on past lessons learnt. More
importantly, they had exhibited excellent crew co-ordination
and timely decision making to CRM the Control Agency when
the need arose. This prevented the incident from developing
into an accident. Such CRM that is beyond the call of duty
is especially noteworthy.
For their excellent performance in averting a potential mid-air collision,
the team has been awarded the Outstanding Safety Award.
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Chua Khim Teck, Desmond is currently an aviation
psychologist of Performance Maximisation (PMAX)
Branch at the ARMC. He has a Bachelor of Social
Sciences (Hons) from the National University of
Singapore.
Are you safe?
Are you aware?
Enhancing Safety by Enhancing Situational
Awareness: A Glimpse into the Future
The development and proliferation of high technology systems across industries
worldwide is now placing even higher demands on the cognitive skills of today's people.
In the military, no less, especially in the RSAF where operators are now required to
work with far more complex multifunctional systems, dealing with more data or
advanced information technology, whilst working across work teams mostly distributed
through time and space. It is no longer the case that if one has stick and rudder skills,
it will be fairly certain that one can make it as a pilot. Today’s pilot has to possess
highly sophisticated knowledge, be able to perceive new information and changes
quickly and accurately, manipulate these in their memory space to then use these to
conduct mental activities such as planning, problem solving, decision making and
anticipating uncertainty, while flying a high performance aircraft safely. It is a
superhuman effort, and those in the aviation industry agree that one is who able to
do all these is one who has a superior level of situational awareness (SA).
It is therefore ironic that for a term that is so well used and readily understood by
aviators, researchers have so far still been unable to come up with a universally
agreed upon definition for SA. There is therefore however, some extent of agreement,
and researchers have chosen to agree to disagree and accept that many approaches
and models can be used to define SA. Without a clear understanding of what SA
entails, the research in SA enhancement has been sporadic to say the least. This has
resulted in the situation that whilst most agree that an even higher level of SA is
required today, the technologies that are available to train SA still lags far behind.
8
Attention
Level 1 SA:
PERCEPTION
STIMULI
Short-Term
Sensory
Store
Decision
Making
Perception
Response
Execution
Working
Memory
Long-Term
Memory
Level 2 SA:
& Level 3 SA:
COMPREHENSION
PROJECTION
Feedback
So what are the elements and key processes that work to improve SA?
For those unfamiliar with the concept of SA, the most established definition for SA is
Endsley's (1988) definition: “SA is the perception of the elements in the environment within
a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of
the status in the near future”. Perception, Comprehension and Projection are termed
Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 SA respectively. The diagram above illustrates how one process
information and how it impacts on one's SA.
A person first perceives information around him through the five senses via the shortterm sensory store which acts as a filter to information coming in, after which perception
of information kicks in. As there is usually constant bombardment of sensory stimuli, one
needs to be selective about the information that he is attending to prevent information
overload, and this is dependent on the use of one's attention resources through correct
task prioritisation and management of attention resources.
The perceived information will then be processed and integrated in working memory to
give a mental picture of the current status, which is really Level 2 SA at work. As in the
previous stage of perception, this processing takes up attention resources. Thus, if one
was task overloaded, he might not have sufficient spare capacity to comprehend the
significance of the perceived elements.
Next, one then matches the current mental picture to his knowledge and experience to
predict the most likely future status (Level 3 SA) for further decision making and action,
which impacts the environment, after which the cycle would repeat again. Again, all this
processing takes up attentional resources.
If you have not noticed already, the key element here is attention. Unfortunately, the
human's attention resources are limited in capacity, so how well a person functions and
performs depends very much on whether attention resources can be increased in capacity.
The way researchers have worked round this problem is to come up with ways of making
one's attention resources work more efficiently.
Despite this, there have been some successes, with others showing potential for success.
This article would hopefully shed light on some of the techniques that researchers are
working on that hold some hope for those who are not so blessed with high level of cognitive
abilities or SA. For those who are already there, they can look forward to surpassing
themselves. At the organisational level, a global improvement in SA can definitely influence
aviation safety positively.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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Are you seeing what I’m seeing?
Vision, one of the most fundamental components in flying and in many other tasks, can
be likened to torchlight beam searching in the dark. Only if you choose to look, then
you will see. It is also well known that experts are able to scan better than novices.
Their experiences allow them to adopt more efficient and accurate scan patterns,
focusing on the right component at the right time. It is therefore most intuitive that
researchers have suggested that by training novices and giving them pointers on
adopting the scan patterns of experts, they can improve their performance. This has
been something done throughout the history of aviation, with flight instructors doing
just that, and we are still awaiting more improved and effective strategies that do not
require the same passage of time.
What is new however, is that recent research suggests that people seem to often “see”
but not see. The phenomenon of change blindness indicates that when there are large
changes in a visual display accompanied by sudden motion, people often fail to notice
these changes. This is best described by a study done to look at how Navy pilots used
a head up display on an aircraft simulator. Just before landing on the simulated aircraft
carrier runway, a large aircraft was put on the deck on the aircraft carrier at the point
of touchdown, and because the pilots were not expecting it, they failed to detect it even
though it was very salient and meaningful to their situation. This often occurs
when distractions draw away the person’s attention from the change, and often
leads to detection failure, which can be potentially dangerous and disastrous.
An example of the pictures used
in change blindness research. The
2 pictures are typically shown
alternatively, interspersed with a
blank screen. Subjects can take
up to more than 40 alternations
before detecting the change.
Training has been designed to deal with change blindness in research on road drivers,
which seems to show some success in reducing vulnerability to change-detection
failures. The training consists of training scan strategies and equipping them with
change-detection tools, rather than leave it to the less than perfect human memory
systems and attentional processes. In fact, researchers are now looking into training
solutions for training those interacting with complex visual displays in process monitoring
and control systems and hopefully some of these techniques can be then applied in
aviation as well.
10
Are you game enough?
Computer games hold large appeal for the generation Y population, and what better
excuse to stay glued to the computer for hours, if by playing them you can also improve
your situation awareness, and therefore flying performance? The good news is that
computer games have been shown to improve flight performance through the training
of attention control skills. Before you get too excited and rush out to purchase an X-Box
or Microsoft Flight Simulator for yourself, you might want to be aware of some additional
information. It doesn’t work with any computer game, and it entails instructed practice
coupled with a specific supervised training strategy directed towards improving attention
management skills.
An international research collaboration sought to take advantage of the burgeoning
microprocessor technology and techniques in computer graphics to study a new approach
to training. They developed training strategies embedded in a complex computer game
named Space Fortress, which they then successfully fielded in a military flight school
to and demonstrated a transfer of skills to flight performance.
Space Fortress was designed to simulate a complex and dynamic flight environment
modelled on an analysis of the military flight training programme. The game requires
one to control the movement of a spaceship while aiming and firing missiles to destroy
the space fortress, while having to protect the ship from hostile elements and manage
resources under severe time pressure and high workload. The game components include
high visual monitoring and scanning demands, difficult manual control, shortterm memory load, long-term memory of procedures, and resource management
considerations.
The most important element in the game is the training of attention control, which in
turn determines how much capacity one has to process the demands of Level 1, 2 and
3 situational awareness (see information box). The idea is that pilots are required to
multitask; to simultaneously control the aircraft, monitor the outside environment, scan
their instruments, and handle radio calls. In an ideal case, the pilot can fully attend to
each component, but because it is not possible, pilots have to adopt strategies of attention
allocation and change the priorities of attending to task elements during the different
segments of their mission. It has been found that when pilots develop their experience
through trial and error under high load conditions, they tend to adopt suboptimal strategies
that tend not to be changed or replaced by better ones with the progress of experience.
Therefore, by training the systematic manipulation of emphasis on different task elements,
it enables one to explore a wider range of attention strategies and improved their ability
to cope with high workload, and resulted in significantly better performance.
Furthermore, it was also found that this ability was shown to generalise to new task
situations.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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Are you in the Zone?
We all have good days where everything goes well and bad days when somehow things just
cannot be done right. Elite athletes train themselves to the point where they are able to be
in the “zone” for every competition they participate in, where they are at their peak performance.
Examination of the brainwaves of a group of bomber pilots showed that better pilots were
able to sustain a higher level of concentration and took shorter microbreaks of relaxation
than others.
Various tools that measure neurofeedback have been used to train and improve attention
control. The aim is that through biofeedback information that allows monitoring of one’s
concentration level, one can learn to gain control of their concentration and strengthen their
ability of their executive attention network to focus attention. The fundamental basis of such
training is that all healthy individuals cycle between concentration and relaxation by focusing
on a task until it is done, and then taking a brief rest. Problems start when one engages in
consistent and intense concentration for long periods, because even the best brain cannot
concentrate forever. Neurofeedback training teaches one to take brief, relaxing microbreaks
which recharge the brain, whilst at the same time strengthening their ability to intensify
alertness levels. It also trains performance of sequences of alertness and microbreaks, and
trains one to perform at high levels of alertness in spite of distractions.
A system called Peak Achievement Trainer has been proposed for military uses as a mental
exercise trainer used to enhance one’s capacity for concentration and alertness, helping
recruits with attention problems and enhancing memory and new learning. It remains to
be seen whether it would be as useful in the military as it has been for elite athletes.
A golfer who is configuring his Peak
Achievement Trainer before taking
a golf swing. The cap he's wearing
contains electrodes which monitor
his brainwaves, and transmit it to
the laptop through radio signals.
Final thoughts
As you can see, there is no magic pill, because unfortunately, the old adage holds true.
Practice makes perfect. There are no two ways about it. But there are ways to make
the practice shorter, more efficient, and more effective. And of course, it helps that we
may in future be able to give better solutions to preventing loss of SA than the usual tips
on being more aware, recognising early signs of lost SA, and communicate. .
References
Durlach, P.J. (2004). Change Blindness and Its Implications for Complex Monitoring and Control
Systems Design and Operator Training. Human-Computer Interaction, 19(4), 423-451.
Endsley, M.R. (1988). Design and Evaluation for Situation Awareness Enhancement. In Proceedings
of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting, 97-101. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and
Ergonomics Society.
Gopher, D., Weil, M., & Bareket, T. (1994). Transfer of Skill from a Computer Game Trainer to Flight.
Human Factors, 36(3), 387-405.
12
Gopher, D., Weil, M., & Siegel, D. (1989). Practice Under Changing Priorities: An Approach to the
Training of Complex Skills. Acta Psychologica, 71, 147-177.
ANNUAL SAFETY
AWARD WINNERS
06/07
BEST SAFETY
SPECIALIST AWARD
FORMATION
NAME
SQUADRON
Tengah Air Base
MSG Frederick Neo Chu Yeow
1SG Edmund Eng Kiat Hwee
SSG Tan Chee Wei William
1WO Tan Eng Ann
SSG Song Hin Foong
MSG Lau Han Seng
MSG Lee Ching Siong
2WO Darren Tang
1SG Ng Kok Wee
MSG Leong Kah Fai
1SG Pey Tien Chun
1SG Jerry Koh Hong Heng
SSG Kumaresan
Base Safety Office
143 SQN
149 SQN
ALS
125 SQN
120 SQN
AFOG
163 SQN
112 SQN
145 SQN
128 SQN
Paya Lebar Air Base
Sembawang Air Base
Air Defence & Operations Command
Changi Air Base
UAV Command
Flight Test Centre
Flying Training School
150 SQN
FMN BEST UNIT
SAFETY OFFICER AWARD
FORMATION
NAME
SQUADRON
Tengah Air Base
CPT Lester John Fair
CPT Joshua Wu Tze Ken
LTA Soh Hua Lie
MR Foo Jong Han
CPT Goh Ho Kee
MAJ Tan Meng Hwa Garion
CPT Fong Meng Chuan
CPT Ng Teck Chye
MAJ Regina Kim Lee Hoon
CPT Peng Chee Seng
143 SQN
ALS
FSS
ALS
AFOG
18 DA BN
UTS
121 SQN
FSS
127 SQN
Paya Lebar Air Base
Air Defence Operations Command
UAV Command
Changi Air Base
Sembawang Air Base
MOTOR TRANSPORT
SAFETY AWARD
FORMATION
HQ RSAF
Air Force School
Air Force Supply Base
Flying Training School
Paya Lebar Air Base
Sembawang Air Base
UAV Command
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
121 SQN,CAB
apr 07
STANDARDS SQN, FTS (Aust)
SQUADRON
121 SQN, CAB
STANDARDS SQN, FTS (Aust)
122 SQN, PLAB
149 SQN, PLAB
124 SQN, FTS
150 SQN, FTS (Fra)
AIR GRADING CENTRE, FTS (Aust)
143 SQN, TAB
144 SQN, PLAB
140 SQN, TAB
145 SQN, CAB
125 SQN, SBAB
127 SQN, SBAB
PEACE PRAIRIE (USA)
112 SQN, CAB
PEACE VANGUARD (USA)
FTC
126 SQN (Aust)
UAV TRG SCH, UC
PEACE CARVIN 2 (USA)
120 SQN, SBAB
128 SQN, UC
14
122 SQN, PLAB
YEARS
34 years
31 years
30 years
21
20
17
17
17
15
15
14
12
11
11
7
3
3
3
2
2
1
1
121 SQN,CAB
STANDARDS SQN, FTS
(Aust)
122 SQN, PLAB
CAF
SAFETY AWARD
On 30 Nov 06, after 40 minutes into a SCT sortie, MAJ G S Kullar
experienced an engine low oil pressure situation. Upon checking
the other engine instruments, he noticed that the RPM gauge
was indicating zero even though the engine was still running.
The engine then developed a knocking sound with the propeller
turning erratically. The Manifold Air Pressure was then observed
to be reducing without any manipulation of the throttle levers.
The engine rough running and knocking worsened with an
associated loss of power. A MAYDAY call was immediately
declared. MAJ Kullar initiated a forced landing onto an
emergency airstrip located within the training area. The aircraft
landed successfully onto the emergency airstrip followed
by an engine seizure upon landing due to lack of lubrication.
There was no damage to the aircraft, civilian property or lives.
MAJ Kullar had remained calm, composed and focused
throughout the emergency and hence, handled the situation
very well in this trying and time critical emergency. He also
exhibited sound judgement, good systems knowledge, and
displayed exceptional flying skills that culminated in effecting
a flawless and successful landing. For this, MAJ Kullar has
been awarded the Chief of Air Force Safety Award.
On 26 Jul 06, SSG Vija Kumar was the driver of a 10-ton High
Mobility Carrier Truck (HCMT) which was part of a convoy of
equipment travelling from Darwin Airport to RAAF Tindal Airbase
in support of Exercise Pitchblack 06. After the 60km mark, SSG
Vija and the Vehicle Commander, noticed some abnormalities
on the HCMT's instrument panel. The speed display suddenly
dropped to zero for approximately 3 seconds, then to resumed
the correct speed indication. SSG Vija calmly maintained the
vehicle on a stable course and speed, minimising disruptions
to the entire convoy.
Subsequently, the speed display dropped to zero for a second
time. At this point, the decision to pull to the side of the road
was made. As SSG Vija manoeuvred the HCMT safely to the
side of the road, a loud bang was heard from the base of the
vehicle and thick smoke was observed. The compressed air
system pressure was also observed to be slowly dropping to 5
bars which is below the minimum of 10 bars required for proper
brake function. Upon inspection, 2 of the HCMT's brake hoses
were found to be leaking heavily. Given the massive weight of
the radar cabin that was mounted on the HCMT (22-ton) and
the speed it was travelling at, the consequences of a total brake
failure would have been severe.
In bringing the vehicle safely to a stop and averting a possible
accident, SSG Vija displayed a high level of professionalism and
skill in handling this time critical emergency. For this, SSG Vija
has been awarded the Chief of Air Force Safety Award.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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Strike Two!
One more and
you’re out!
CPT Goh Han Wee is currently a Qualified Flying
Instructor (QFI) in 149 Squadron, the Fighting
Shikras. Prior to this posting, he graduated
from the USAF UPT course in year 1999 and
was posted to 149 Squadron, as an Ops
Pilot, after the F-5 conversion course. He
subsequently completed the Flying Instructor
Course in year 2003 and followed on to serve
as a QFI in 130 Squadron in Perth, Australia.
It was a typical day during the NE
Monsoon period that starts from late
November / early December, with the
weather forecast during the squadron's
Start-of-Day brief being isolated
thunderstorms and rain during our
flying waves.
I was planned for a Tactical Intercept 2v1 Mission, number 2
in the lineup and the flight supervisor of the formation. Mission
was thoroughly briefed with the flight lead covering some of
the weather considerations as part of the Special Interest
Item for the mission.
A final check of the weather on the weather radar and the
absence of a meteorological warning/advisory gave us the
assurance that weather was good enough for flying operations
before we walked out for our mission. During the taxy to the
end of runway for the final aircraft check before take-off,
a visual check on the weather along the departure route
had me thinking “Ok, weather towards the west is no factor”.
The Pandan East(PE) Departure routing is generally a westerly
track followed by a left turn for a easterly track to the training
16
areas in South China Sea. 5 mins after airborne, on a westerly
heading, a weather pirep (pilot's report) given by an aircraft
operating overhead the island was passed to our formation by the
Departure Controller. A weather buildup with no lightning activity
was observed to the east of our position and along the departure
route that might affect us when we track easterly eventually.
Shortly, the flight lead called for the formation to string out to 1nm
trail in anticipation of any weather penetration. With the formation
established in an Indian-trail, the formation was cleared a left turn
towards the east and that was when the flight lead and myself
(number 2 in formation) had a good look at the reported weather
buildup.
Departure Controller subsequently checked if the reported weather
was penetrable and the flight lead replied “Affirm” but requested
for a heading deviation towards the north of the PE track. I assessed
the buildup to be a towering cumulus cloud with a whitish grey
appearance, ceiling height unable to assess, low-level base and
a diameter approximately 5-8nm stretching from slightly north to
south of the PE track. With that assessment, I agreed with flight
lead's decisions that the buildup was penetrable and of the deviation
heading, as it would allow the formation to circumnavigate towards
the north of the weather buildup.
Due to the narrow departure corridor, the Departure Controller
checked if the formation could accept a easterly heading and the
flight lead replied “Affirm”. Clearly an easterly heading would
bring the formation into the weather but based on my assessment
of the weather being penetrable(no lightning activities reported or
sighted) and that we would penetrate it at its fringe, as the formation
supervisor I concurred with the flight lead's decision.
The aircraft was flown in a manner as stipulated in the base
order/techincal manual, e.g. Select constant power setting to fly
at weather penetration speed, turning on the engine anti-ice device,
etc, prior to entering the weather. The flight became more and
more bumpy with slight to moderate turbulence and slight
precipitation experienced shortly after the entrance with me
thinking “it's ok, just maintain constant flying attitude. I was still
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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feeling comfortable but my hair started to stand when I
spotted a flash not so distant away. Relieved it did not hit
my aircraft, I was hoping it did not affect my other two
formation members as well. But my hope was almost
immediately dashed when number 3 reported that he had
experienced a lightning strike but all onboard systems and
engine health were in normal operating conditions. That
was when I thought “It's no longer ok” and came on the
radio to advise Departure Controller that PE departure was
not longer recommended. Anticipating that there would
probably be more lightning occurring kept my fingers
permanently crossed. As I was hoping I would exit the
weather the very next second, Murphy decided to pay me
a visit. A glaring bolt of lightning was observed in front of
my canopy accompanied with a loud bang that would scare
the bravest soul on earth. My onboard digital displays
flickered for a moment and the voice message system, aka
the Bitching Betty, was screaming “Engine, Engine” a
couple of seconds later. I checked my Engine Performance
Indicators(EPI) immediately and analysed the problem as
a left-hand engine flame out. “How could a lightning strike
cause an engine flameout?” I asked myself unbelievably.
Putting my doubt aside, I began to handle the emergency
and that was when I finally exited the weather, which came
a little too late. I guess the flight lead was the lucky
one because out of the three aircraft, only his escaped
without any damage. Or else, it'd have been Strike Three.
Fortunately, the F-5 has two engines and it is totally flyable
even with only one engine operating. Coupled with the
altitude I was at (19,000'), I knew I had some time to react
to the emergency. The affected throttle was placed to the
stop position and the Flight Reference Card(FRC) was
reviewed. A check on the EPI indicates the left-hand engine
was windmilling and suitable for an engine airstart.
Following the steps as stipulated in the FRC, a successful
engine airstart was carried out.
I informed my flight lead and Departure Controller of my
problem and the decision to initiate a Return-To-Base(RTB).
18
“Hell! No way am I going to enter that weather again!” I reminded
myself and requested for both an altitude and track deviation
on my return leg.
The aircraft landed off uneventfully and during the post-flight
walk around check, I was shocked to see the damage sustained
due to the lightning strike. The top ILS GS/LOC antenna located
at the top of the vertical tail fin was ripped off.
So how did a lightning strike cause an engine flame out?
Apparently this wasn't the first time such occurrence had
happened, in fact this was the third case in RSAF F-5 history.
Engine parameters data reviewed by the technical specialists
suggested that the lightning strike superheated the air around
the aircraft which significantly deteriorated the quality of air
entering into the engine. Not forgetting that the turbulence
and precipitation encountered might have a contributory factor
leading to the flame out.
In retrospect, better assessment and judgement on my part
would have prevented the emergency from happening. A whitish
grey appearance does not necessarily mean it's all good inside,
do not trust visual appearance to be a reliable indicator of
turbulence and precipitation inside a thunderstorm. Although
no lightning activity was reported, do not assume so as weather
could deteriorate rapidly. Time and situation permitting, make
use of onboard radar to assess the extent of the weather buildup.
Climbing above the buildup wasn't feasible in my case as I
wasn't unable to assess the ceiling but it was definitely in excess
of 30,000'. Clear the top of a known or suspected thunderstorm
by at least 1000 ft and do not fly below it as turbulence and
wind shear below could be disastrous. So the only way was to
circumnavigate it laterally but did I adhere to the guideline of
avoiding thunderstorms by at least 20nm? Answer obviously
is No.
Thinking of how the situation would have been much more
serious and uglier still send cold shivers down my spine, it also
dragged me out of the little comfort zone I was in to learn or
re-learn some very important lessons. While it is almost like
a daily event to be flying in or with some weather around in
local context, where rapid weather buildups are all not so
uncommon, we as aviators should not be desensitized by the
“Been there, done that” mentality. We have to constantly remind
ourselves to recognize and respect the hazards of
thunderstorms. I am sure if I were to be put in similar situations
again, I'd do the right thing and follow the classic sayings of
“Avoiding thunderstorms is the best policy” and “Turn back is
always an option”.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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LTC Daniel Siew Hoi Kok is currently a branch head in
JCISD. His previous appointments include CO 165 Sqn and
branch head in APD. He attended the Singapore Command
and Staff College in 2003. LTC Daniel graduated from NTU
with a Bachelor of Engineering in 1992. He holds a MBA
from Nanyang Business School, Singapore, and a MSc from
Naval Postgraduate School, USA. He also obtained a
Graduate Diploma in Organisational Learning from the Civil
Service College in 2005.
Bio-data:
Reflection on Safety Management
– A Commanding Officer's Perspective
Introduction
Safety is of utmost concern to every squadron
Commanding Officers (COs) in the RSAF. It is so
important that the Air Force has added ‘Safety’ to
the existing seven core values in the SAF. It could
determine whether the CO has done his job well
enough.
However, safety can never exist in isolation, because the raison d'etre for a CO is to
make sure that whatever missions (be it peacetime or wartime, ops or non-ops) that
are assigned to the squadron be accomplished, albeit safely. How to balance between
missions (i.e. operations) and safety can be tricky. There are various “safety models”
that were offered to help commanders focus their attentions on balancing these two
demands (ops and safety).
Throughout my tour as CO, I have used both analogies to understand the need to balance
ops with safety. On top of that, by borrowing the idea from the Organisational Learning
(OL) PEL Triangle framework (see Figure 1), I have been emphasizing safety
in the squadron through what I call the SQT Triangle framework (see Figure 2).
20
OL PEL framework
The PEL Triangle framework helps people
understand that if we just emphasise performance
alone, the total results (represented by the volume
of the shaded triangle) will never be good enough.
It postulated that there must be enough emphasis
on experience and learning at the same time, in
order to expand the total results. This is because
we are dealing with people. As much as we can
overemphasise the importance of performing, we
will not be able to sustain getting good total results
in the long run if the people have bad experience
and learn nothing throughout.
SQT Triangle framework
We are also dealing with people in our accomplishment of missions. Similar to the PEL
Triangle framework, the SQT Triangle framework helps people understand that if we
just emphasise safety alone, the missions achievement (represented by the volume of
the shaded triangle) will never be good enough. We need to concurrently emphasise
training and quality, in order to achieve good mission results. As much as we can
overemphasise the importance of safety, we will not be able to sustain getting good
mission results all the time if the people have poor training and lacks quality awareness.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
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Why is there the need to emphasise all three areas?
Attaining the missions assigned to the squadron must be the key objective for any
unit. Therefore, all activities must be for the attainment of the assigned missions. AFI
has also since 2004 changed the safety logo/theme from “Safety Everywhere Always”
to “Mission Success, Safety Always”. However, I see that in mission attainment, the
other two components, that is, training and quality, must also be emphasised. Missions,
in reality, include ops and non-ops activities, which means anything that the unit
personnel do could contribute to the attainment or under achievement of the missions.
This also means that anything can happen. For instance, even a simple administrative
vehicle run could cause you dearly if you do not pay attention to all the three areas.
Safety Emphasis - Doing Things Safely
Safety, of course, is about doing things safely. However, it is not just about the
commanders emphasising safety that things must be done safely. Everyone in the unit
must do things safely. The revised RSAF's fourth safety principles aptly sums it: “Safety
is an individual, team and command responsibility”. This principle highlights the need
for the individual to be committed to safety in our current context of the 3rd Generation
RSAF. The necessity stems from the dynamic and uncertain characteristics prevalent
in our organisation in these transformational years. In such an environment, there is
a need for individuals to be able to draw from "First Principles", so that they may be
able to react correctly and promptly in unknown situations.
For the team, besides the normal working group/unit, I suggest that the S3, QMR and
USO form the three key communities of practice (COP) and champion the areas of
training, quality and safety respectively. Once these three COPs can get their act within
their community together, and can cooperate and coordinate activities with other COPs,
the three aspect of safety, training and quality will enter a “reinforcing loop” (see
Figure 2) and be self-sustaining to achieve all missions tasked to the squadron safely.
These COPs form another layer at the team level to fulfill the safety principle of “safety
is an individual, team and command responsibility”.
One of the safety principles is “zero accident is an achievable goal”. To many people,
this is not a realistic target and will not be achievable. However, I shared this perspective
with my squadron during one of the squadron's safety day. When it comes to individual
being at risk, we always hold the mindset that “it will never happen to me”. That is why
we take risks when it comes to drink driving and having unprotected sex, just to name
a few. When we think “it will never happen to me”, we in fact, already subscribe to the
22
principle that “zero accident is achievable”; In this case, the “accident” being the risk
that we are prepared to take. When this “zero accident is achievable” is applied to
work safety, we think this is impossible. Instead, we subscribe to the fact that “accident”
is possible, even, inevitable. I call this the “zero accident paradox”: zero accident is
impossible but on the other hand, no accident would happen to me. Therefore, I suggest
that the next time we very quickly dismiss that zero accident is not achievable, we
should challenge ourselves to think in the same way “it will never happen to me”, if
you take the precaution truly required.
My final safety reflection is that safety cannot be achieved through fear, at least not
in the long term. The third safety principles states that “incident reporting is mandatory
for accident prevention”. The RSAF Safety Information System (SIS) has been in place
since Jul 96, providing management and working levels with safety information (by
posting FAIRs/GAIRs via the OA system) and statistical data for analysis. FAIR/GAIR
essentially serves the purpose of open reporting and lessons sharing. The RSAF Safety
Management Manual (RSMM) states that there should not be any need to apportion
blame or mitigate errors, nor should it be used to question actions taken in an open
system. Disciplinary and supervisory matters remain a command responsibility.
However, I suspect that many incidents are not reported because the parties involved
were fearful of the punishment that they might receive for openly reporting mistakes
or incidents. Therefore, how to balance a open reporting culture and at the same time,
accord the appropriate disciplinary actions, remains tricky.
Another problem with instilling fear in order to be safe is that we might fall into negative
vision. An example of negative vision is that when we are told not to think of “pink
flamingo”, the first thought that usually come across our mind is the picture of a “pink
flamingo”. Therefore, the more we fear something that might compromise the safe
execution of our tasks, the more we think of that fear. As a result, instead of achieving
the mission, we tend to fall into the trap of negative vision and ended up infringing
safety. One way out of this is to focus our energy on getting proper training and
performing the task consistently. Instead of fear, we should respect the operating
environment and demonstrate professional pride in executing all tasks that we
undertake.
Quality Emphasis - Doing Things Consistently
Quality is about doing things consistently well. It is about doing things consistent with
standards prescribed in unit's standard operating procedures (SOP), standing orders
and logistics orders (e.g. AFLO, Sqn FLO). Certainly, quality is much more than the
annual audit checks by external auditors. Quality emphasis is to make sure that people
perform their tasks consistently what they have learned from their training.
The RSAF Air Logistics Organisation's (ALO) quality journey has been the hallmark of
its work culture of continuous improvement where "Quality is everybody's responsibility".
It is commendable that various air logistics business units have been admitted into
the Singapore Quality Class (SQC) since ALO was certified to ISO 9002 in 1993. Its
quality auditing activities have also moved beyond “quality control” to “quality assurance”.
But what is crucial for an operational unit is for its personnel to see the operational
benefits of what “quality work” means. I should think this “personal internalisation”,
where a person understands fully his impact as an individual, is the more difficult part.
Individual operators must understand that operating consistently means that it will
be easier to transfer experience and continuously improve the techniques, tactics or
procedures to accomplish our missions.
In light of this, it is essential for the “operations documents” (SOP and standing orders,
etc.) to have a proper “management system” to catch up with the way we maintain the
logistics orders. This means having up to date SOP and standing orders that consistently
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capture the “right” way of performing unit's tasks. It also means that
the execution of operational and daily administrative tasks will be of
consistent quality. Individuals who find these “operations documents”
lacking should highlight them to the squadron's management so as
to get them updated. It is then for the squadron's management to
continuously review the these documents.
Since 1st Apr 06, Logistics Inspection Branch (LIB) has been created
in AFI to bring both the Logistics Safety and Quality Management
Systems audits on all RSAF units under the command responsibility
of CAF through HAFI. This indicates AFI's “inspection mandate” has
moved beyond operations and safety to include quality at the squadron
level as well. The Squadon's Quality Management Representative
(QMR), being responsible for making sure that the unit maintain a
good quality management system and records, is also in a good
position to assist and advise the squadron in managing the unit's
“operations document”. In the ADA units, the vision is to have all the
Sqn Chief WO be the QMR. This will further strengthen the quality
emphasis with operational benefits, since being the most senior
specialist in the squadron, the Sqn Chief WO will have wealth of both
operational and quality knowledge relevant to the Sqn's weapon systems.
Training Emphasis
- Doing Things Correctly
Training is about doing things correctly. It is about making sure that
everyone is trained to do the required job properly; be it a driver, a
specialist or an officer running his daily ops or non-ops tasks. It is
vital to emphasise training because we sometimes take training for
granted since we are already doing our respective jobs day-in, dayout. The emphasis on training is to make sure that we equip our men
and women the necessary skills to perform their tasks correctly.
The training time for both the NSF and NSmen has been
shortened due to the implementation of the 2-year NSF training
and 10-year NSTS respectively. However, a shorter time for training
need not be at the expense of standards (quality) and safety.
Nevertheless, it will require a different mindset to accomplish it.
Training must become more focused and we should be training “just
enough” versus the old model of “just in case”. A more focused
training with emphasis on standards and safety will ensure that the
personnel in the unit ask themselves whether they are trained to the
level that they can perform their tasks adequately.
Though the focus for unit personnel is to accomplish all assigned
missions, we still must dedicate sufficient time to continuously train
those who are not up to the standard as yet. The “training the trainer”
concept could be adopted in the unit. Though, due to the tight
manpower resources, it is difficult to ensure that anyone that has to
do some form of training be “certified” to perform the training tasks.
However, it must be stressed that we must be conscious of the
important role we have in making sure that the personnel under us
are properly trained; that is, trained to do things correctly, proficient
up to a level consistent with required standards and able to perform
the job safely.
24
In the case of the unit, the regulars are probably in the best positions to be the trainer.
Usually, the regulars will stay longer in the unit. They must have also been through
the unit entire training cycle and at least have been keeping current by the SATR
(semi-annual training requirement). How to instill in them that they do have a training
role to play in the unit is essential. The best person for this task has to be the unit S3
(or equivalent appointment holder). The unit S3, besides running the daily ops for the
squadron, must also pay enough attention in making sure that the “trainers” are
sufficiently equipped, and that the rest of the training within the unit are conducted
correctly.
Changing Safety Mindset
Changing of safety mindset offers another perspectives to looking at safety related
issues. It targets at leveraging at the “mental models level” of the Level of Perspective
(LOP) framework (see Figure 4). There is an appropriate action mode at each level of
perspectives. For example, at the events level, the reactive mode is most effective as
the situation demands us to take quick decisive actions to tackle it immediately. But
for safety, especially in the long run, we cannot be reactive and take knee-jerk reactions
all the time. Besides being adaptive to various safety “patterns over time” and creating
various structures and policies to ensure safety, we must also challenge many of our
mental model (mindset) with regards to safety.
Conclusion
What I have reflected are mainly safety related issues that are not just on safety alone.
They include areas of training and quality as well. In summary, the key is that every
CO should have some form of framework/mental model/theory to think about safety.
This will form the basis for his actions when dealing with issues related to safety. It
is also important that with an articulated framework, he can then discuss it with his
PSOs and senior personnel. This will help them understand where the CO is coming
from when certain decisions related to safety are taken by him. The framework can
also be the basis for discussion, and allow unit personnel to “test” it before it becomes
part of the unit safety culture. A common thread in the many issues that I have reflected
is about changing mindset (or mental model) as well. We need to surface and test
some of our inherent safety mental model (mindset) through reflecting together. We
could then “dissolves” many of the safety related issues that we have been trying to
solve.
References:
1. http://intranet.defence.gov.sg/Organisation/Air_Force/ALD/Quality_And_Safety/Quality_ Journey/index.htm
2. http://afi.rsaf.mindef/afi/index.htm
3. RSAF Safety Management Manual
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
apr 07
2WO Tommy Low is currently the Safety Publicity
Warrant Officer in Accident Prevention Branch, Air Force
Inspectorate, HQ RSAF. He was previously a PSTAR
Platoon Sergeant in 3rd Divisional Air Defence Artillery
Battalion. 2WO Tommy is also an avid photographer
and has contributed to the RSAF in numerous events,
including NDPs, RSAF Anniversaries, etc. He attained
his Industrial Technician Certificate in Mechatronics from
ITE Tampines in 2000.
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magazine
calendar
poster
website
oa wallpaper
notebook
car decal
photography
videography
Introduction
Being an Air Defence Systems Specialist means I am wearing green and out in the
field most of the time. And as a PSTAR specialist, my role was to assist my Tactical
Control Officer in surveying the airspace designated to us by higher HQ. And eventually
designating hostile targets to the Fire Units under our control. For the record, I joined
the Air Force in 1993 and stayed throughout my first 10 years in the Air Defence
community, rising through the ranks and appointments in the ADA Formation. My
last appointment in 3rd Divisional Air Defence Artillery Battalion was as a PSTAR
Platoon Sergeant, in 2002.
Post-9/11 has changed the overall defence concept of the entire world's military. We
are not fighting the conventional warfare anymore. With terrorist
threats abound, military all over the world will now have
to face their adversities in a whole new dimension.
Air Defence has taken more of the “limelight”
after 9/11, as we now not only have to defend
our skies from conventional threats, but
also the unconventional ones as well. With
such emphasis on Operations, Safety
definitely must not be neglected.
Safety Overview in the RSAF
I was posted to Air Force Inspectorate (AFI) in 2002. Residing in my cubicle in
AFI for the past 4 and a half years has enlightened me with how Safety in the
RSAF works. AFI is the Safety Organisation of the RSAF. Our core business is
Accident Prevention, with the numerous Safety Programmes conducted by
Accident Prevention Branch. The Analysis and Investigation Branch handles all
the trends and analysis work in AFI, as well as investigation matters should an
incident or accident occurs. The Inspection Branch has now been expanded
into an Operations and a Logistics Inspection Branch, giving each branch more
dedication in conducting their inspections of the units and squadrons.
The 4 branches of AFI works towards the common goal of “Preventing the next
accident through implementing a Robust Safety Management System with a
Strong Safety Culture in the RSAF”. This is AFI's Mission. The open-reporting
idealogy has been “drilled” into each and every RSAF personnel since Day-1,
when they stepped into Air Force School. The basic course, the Specialist
Enhancement Programme, the RSAF Safety Course, the Advance Specialist
Course and many other RSAF courses have instilled the importance of safety
and open-reporting. By being open about our “mistakes”, we will be able to
educate the “rest”. Yes, all “mistakes” comes with a price to pay. But if we were
to keep mum about our mistake and not reporting it, we will not be helping the
next person doing that same particular job. In fact, we might even be causing
a hazard to the next person.
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RSAF Safety Magazine Issue 51
apr 07
Let's take an example of an uneven ground, which will
probably caused someone who walks over it to trip. I
walked across the spot and tripped, causing me to lose
my balance. But if I were to walk away from it, thinking
that the next guy will probably also just tripped, I might
be wrong. The next guy walked over the ground, tripped
and falls flat on his face, getting a deep cut over his
eyebrow. Ouch!
What could I have done? I could have prevented his
accident, if only I had highlighted the uneven ground.
Or I could have gone a step further to block off that path
and put up a hazard sign, while informing management
to get the ground fixed. That's just an example of an
uneven ground. What if its a lost tool which was not
reported and the technician involved wanting to “cover”
himself, purchased a new tool to replace it. He may
have gotten away with the accounting process, but
where is that tool?! It might just caused the next accident
if it was lying around somewhere. By believing in an
open-reporting culture, we could all do our part and
prevent the next incident/accident. When you believe,
you will succeed.
Safety Publicity in the RSAF
As the Warrant Officer in-charge of Safety Publicity in
the RSAF, my role is to ensure the RSAF gets the right
safety messages, every time, always. Safety Publicity
in the RSAF have a few means. We have the OA
Wallpaper on your PCs, Safety Posters, AFI Safety
Website, Safety Table Planners/Calendars and the Safety
Magazine – Focus.
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magazine
calendar
poster
My job, as the assistant to the editor of Focus, is to
capture the pictures to compliment the writers' article.
And being an avid photographer does help. In fact, I
have been honing on my photgraphy skills since. When
I first stepped into this job, I was told I needed to have
some know-hows on photography, graphic designs and
magazine layouts. Hmm... Interesting job, I thought.
And indeed it was very interesting. Much changes were
done during my time as the Safety Publicity Specialist.
Overhauling the Focus magazine's outlook and layout,
re-designing the new Safety logo, churning out safety
posters with new and updated pictures, just to name a
few.
The Focus magazine has come a long way. Since its
early publication in the 70s till now, we seen a variety
of changes to its cover and outlook. Our safety magazine
reaches out not only to our RSAF personnel, but also
to the foreign Air Forces as well. As such, we have to
constantly keep the magazine “fresh” and “trendy”.
This way, it will get a good chance that the “readership”
for Focus increases.
I have done my walkabouts in units & squadrons while
I was on Focus assignments and had talks with the
personnel there. Most agree that an attractive magazine
cover and “interesting” titles of articles coupled with
nice, beautiful pictures would “attract” the reader. And
so I began my quest to beautify the magazine. Working
closely with the magazine design company gives me
the versatility to manipulate the outlook and layout.
Let's be fair. The designer will not know the difference
between a F-16 and a F-5. All they know is that its a
plane. So I am there to “hold their hands” and ensure
website
oa wallpaper
notebook
car decal
photography
videography
that the correct pictures are placed with the corresponding
articles.
The OA Wallpaper is another mean of safety publicity in
the RSAF. AFI is the custodian of the RSAF's intranet OA
wallpaper. The wallpaper safety messages are uploaded
weekly to disseminate important safety messages to the
entire RSAF. If you have an OA PC, you will definitely not
missed that safety message wallpaper at the background
of your monitor/LCD. The message may be brief, but the
intent is definitely clear.
The AFI Safety website has seen much transformation
too. A more interactive and vibrant website now allows
users to access more information about safety in the
RSAF. CAF Quarterly Safety Forums slides, Safety
Circulars, Safety Alert Messages, are some of the useful
materials which could be found in the AFI Safety website.
In this world of advanced technology, we should be making
full use of it to our advantage, to share valuable
information.
The Safety Posters are produced by AFI annually. Posters
are part and parcel of publicity and it also serves as a
very good reminder for crews on the ground. Sometimes,
its these reminders that will prevent an incident/accident,
or even save a life. AFI also conducts Safety Poster
Competitions bi-annually. This is a channel where our
very own servicemen can showcase their creativity and
provide the RSAF with quality suggestions on poster
designs.
Finally, the Safety Table Planners/Calendars. These
planners/calendars are produced, at the end of the year,
as part of the safety publicity awareness to the RSAF.
Safety messages and slogans are printed on the planners
to give users a touch of safety in their daily planning.
Quotes from Chief of Air Force, Formation Commanders,
HAFI and other RSAF officers serves as a reminder that
Safety will be part of our daily operations.
Conclusion
After producing 17 and a half issues of Focus magazine
(I joined midway through the production of issue #33),
it’s time for me to relinquish my duties and return to my
roots. I've learned to enjoy the work that was once so
“alien” to me. But coming to Air Force Inspectorate has
certainly widen my horizon and increased my knowledge
about safety in the RSAF. Now, with the abundance of
safety knowledge that I've acquired in AFI, I am sure I
will be able to contribute to my new unit in Air Defence
and Operations Command. Parting has never been easy,
but I'd want to think that I have contributed to the
transformation of Safety Publicity in the RSAF as good
memories...
29
“ ...Safety does not only exist at the policy level.
It depends heavily on how conscious and
proactive are our people towards Safety... ”
- BG Ng Chee Khern
Chief of Air Force
Annual Safety Conference 2007