SUSTANING NASA's SAFETY CULTURE THROUGH EFFECTIVE TEAM DEBRIEFINGS AND INDIVIDUAL TEAM MEMBER SELF-ASSESSMENTS

摘要

Academic research and studies consistently report that the highest percentage of accidents is caused by safety culture failures. Understanding our safety culture and those actions necessary to cultivate it is critical if we are to be successful as an international space community. Team debriefing and individual team member self-assessments offer one of the most effective means for developing an expert team and sustaining a strong safety culture. This paper highlights the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) Mission Management Team's (MMT) most recent efforts in implementing effective debrief strategies and the resultant positive cultural shift that has occurred within this team. It illustrates why this effort and others like it have had the effect of not only sustaining but continually improving these teams' ability to learn and reinvigorate a strong safety culture in the midst of a dynamic and challenging environment. Although the scope of this paper is bounded by a narrowed area of observation at NASA's Johnson Space Center, the strategies and best practices presented apply to all team environments. This is especially true for the diverse partnerships that exist today and those being forged that make up the international space community.