On 8/23/2011 11:12 AM, Mike Schumann wrote:
On 8/23/2011 11:39 AM, Dan Marotta wrote:

Snip...

Those of us who are concerned with safety will act accordingly and seek
the information we need. The others will simply nod their heads and then
ignore the message. The only way to make them safe is to ground them and
none of us have the authority nor the right to do that (unless they're
flying club equipment).

No cynicism intended, "I'll second these observations." Human nature is real.

Major Snip...


There are a lot of people who see something unsafe happening and don't speak
up. Whether they assume that the other party already knows about it, or they
don't think it's any of their business, or they are concerned about sounding
like a know it all.....

"Roger all the above." ...or they're concerned about their opinions being
poo-pooed/dissed/treated dismissively, or being subjected to ad-hominem
attacks...regrettably, there's a lengthy list of possible silencing influences.

That's part of the culture that needs to change. Everyone needs to speak up
when they see something that doesn't look right. Often the message may be a
false alarm or ignored, but every now and then it might save someone's life.

"What Mike said, about culture." It matters, and the most effective inputs to
Joe Average Club Gliderpilot I've yet seen has been peer pressure. I've also
seen peer pressure work well at a commercial glider FBO.
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The rest of this post is some strictly anecdotal - if historically/personally
based, broad-brush, observational support of the preceding paragraph.

Here's my (U.S.-based) observations and assessments the safety cultures of 3
clubs to which I've belonged.

But first, a summary for short-attention-span readers:
- club 'safety culture' has a LOT of inertia;
- (in my experience) a good argument can be made for a club's safety culture
directly affecting its day-to-day operations and safety record.

Club A: member 9/'72-4/'74; had an obvious, top-to-bottom (in
member-experience terms) concern for members' safety-related habits. Also had
a wide range of age and experience, with obvious respect granted those with
more experience, yet without giving them a free-ride in situations where they
'did dumb things.' No whiff of "Do as I say, not as I do," hypocrisy that the
youngest, newest, least-experienced club member (23-year-old me) could sense.
In hindsight, a club that then had a 'to be emulated/envied' safety culture,
despite also then having a world-record-O&R ridge running pilot/FAA-examiner
and several other serious contest pilots as members. No accidents/mild-prangs
during my short tenure. I was volunteered LOTS of tips and safety-related
inputs/reading/conversations...and eagerly lapped it up.

Club B: member 5/'74-9/'75; had no detectable-to-me club safety culture at
all. Slightly smaller than Club A (~40 vs. 60-ish social-to-active members).
No accidents/mild-prangs during my short tenure. I felt then, its overall
cultural environment was 'less inherently beneficial to Joe Newbie' than was
Club A's, mostly from the relative absence of 'club-encouraged generic
input/peer pressure.' Not until I got to know some club members personally,
was I privy to 'club culture.' Essentially the then-existing 'club culture'
seemed more akin to 'corporate ownership of shared assets' to me.

Club C: participant/member 9/'75-today, during which time club
social-to-active membership has varied from ~60 to ~160. Club C's basic
culture seemed/was similar to Club B when I arrived on the scene. Since then
I've seen its safety culture run the gamut from 'none immediately obvious to
me' to 'much better,' to 'slapdash in pursuit of
instructors/towpilots/growth,' to 'similar to Club A's.' Happily, the 21st
century culture has been essentially a positive, active, worth-emulating sort.
Over my observational span, the Club has had a number of incidents to
tugs/gliders, the most serious to the former (that I can recall) being a prop
strike of a 180HP Super Cub. I can recall 1 glider being insurance-totalled in
that span. No fatalities; no hospital-worthy injuries. Fleet size: tug -
originally i, now 2; gliders - originally 2, now 6.

It's worth noting that *changes* in Club C's safety culture have mostly
evolved very slowly...I would say the safety culture has been resistant to
change from the perspective of anyone actively trying to effect some sort of
sea change, in the absence of 'a shocking event.' Most of the
non-significant-event-based cultural changes evolved as club membership
evolved. The most rapid changes (to-date-lasting) occurred as a result
insurance-pressures (i.e. the inability to retain hull coverage at any
'reasonable rate'). This event occurred a few years into the club's 'slapdash
in pursuit of instructors/towpilots/growth' cultural phase.
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