Re: Need name of woman who assessed NASA safety culture

From: JGM (jgmclean0_at_aol.com)
Date: 12/22/04 

Date: 22 Dec 2004 01:22:05 GMT

Craig Fink wrote:

> There are many "Dead men
>Orbiting" scenarios out there, but if you can't even say the words, your
>going to be lost from the beginning. NASA uses the term "Bad Day", or
>"Loss of", or "Inflight Anomaly",
(. . . )
>Using the correct words, a new Political
>Correctness, would be one of the simplest and easiest ways to bring about
>frank and direct discussion and the cultural change that NASA needs.

 You're shooting the semantics issues instead of the real issues. This
euphemisation is typical if not standard in any enterprise where loss of life
is a possibility. In a lot of cases it's the only way people can work
long-term in such an environment and stay sane. Viewed from the outside it
seems callous, and in some ways it is -- even during the pre-deorbit Columbia
analysis LOC scenarios were dismissed with a shrug or a euphemism, that'd be a
Bad Day but no sense spending time on it -- but it doesn't mean the people
involved aren't acutely aware of the real meaning behind these terms.

JGM