Error Correction
Personality conflicts are an inescapable part of human nature, as is human error. But how can we minimize the negative impact of these factors for our operations on the fireground? An answer may come from the airline industry.
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In 1979 during a workshop on improving air safety, NASA created the concept of cockpit resource management. The core principle of CRM is that many aviation accidents are caused by human error, such as failures in interpersonal communication, leadership and decision-making inside the cockpit.
In the 1980s, United Airlines improved and defined the CRM model in greater depth when it spearheaded the concept's use in the airline industry to improve safety. As CRM continued to evolve, the entire crew — from dispatchers to maintenance workers to operations staff — became involved, and the concept soon was renamed crew resource management. The concept was adopted so successfully by the airline industry that other aviation operations, including the U.S. Air Force, began to adapt it for their teams.
CRM excels where there is a chance of increased danger due to poor communication, personality differences, human performance limitations and a lack of situational awareness. As its use spread, CRM soon was seen as valuable for any high-risk team environment, such as law enforcement, surgical procedures and firefighting. Mark Eagleson from RHO Aviation Training Services says CRM should be designed to meet specific organizational needs to be of maximum benefit.
It's important to note that CRM is not actually concerned with the skills necessary for flying but instead with the cognitive and interpersonal skills needed to manage the flight as it takes place. This skill base is broken down into gaining and maintaining situational awareness for making decisions and solving problems.
CRM creates organizational cultures and climates where it is possible to respectfully question authority with the purpose of greatly increasing a team's situational awareness. Todd Bishop of the Error Prevention Institute offers a five-step process that covers the CRM inquiry and advocacy process.
- Get attention by addressing the individual.
- State personal concern by describing what one sees in a direct manner while owning emotions about it.
- State the problem as seen.
- State a solution.
- Obtain agreement or buy-in.
In Australian bushfire firefighting, the CRM model has been implemented to improve coordination and open communication between teams in an effort to reduce the incidence of human error. The CRM concept was introduced into Australian firefighting culture at the crew-leader level, and it now forms part of the basic foundations for any Australian firefighting team. CRM teaches Australian crew leaders that in conversations where feedback needs to be provided, it can be direct without emotions such as aggression or condescension coming into play.
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CRM principles focus on fostering good teamwork and developing interpersonal skills to optimize the use of crew resources. For effective CRM to happen, however, many skills need to be combined — listening, open questioning and summarizing, as well as becoming aware of the impact of the pace, volume and pitch of speech. Australian fire managers are taught these "soft" skills, along with Bishop's framework, during the CRM training program.
CRM is important beyond the manager level. The Australian catch-cry is "a fair go all around," so it follows naturally that when complex and important decisions need to be made, the right proportion of group participation is believed to improve the quality of the leader's ultimate decision. CRM in Australian firefighting is broken down into three categories: avoiding errors, detecting and trapping errors, and reducing the impact of errors. To this end, group participation in important decision-making builds increased reliability into teams.
When planning for crew briefings, Australian fire leaders use the SMEACS checklist: situation, mission, execution, assistance, command/communications and safety. When communicating their decisions to crew members during briefings, they also are taught to take time to explain their rationale, offer supporting information, and encourage questions and suggestions.
Combating errors encompasses the physical as well as mental. The Australian crew-leader manual states that to help avoid errors, "Keep up individual personal fitness, for errors are more likely to occur when one is fatigued." Also noted is the importance to consume the right foods and refreshments and to take proper rest and crew rotations. Crew leaders are taught to size up the capabilities of their individual crews and prepare in advance for likely events while on assignments.
Other factors found to reduce human errors include personal and team stress management, following the Incident Command System, staying ahead of ongoing incidents by requesting weather updates, keeping up with the team's operational status, and delegating duties as needed.
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