View from the Street * Feb. 2014

February 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment

“Normalization of Deviance” or  National Best Safety Practices, which Safety path is your agency on! 

“Normalization of deviance” describes a gradual shift in thought in which nonstandard or unacceptable behavior and standards become acceptable. People and organizations generally do not tolerate immediate, large shifts in behaviors – it would be obvious and seem ridiculous. However, we accept and barely notice incremental changes over long periods of time.

One graphic example of this concept was…the space shuttle Challenger disaster. Accident investigators identified that the temperature on the morning of the launch was far below the known safe limit. The O-rings that failed and caused the explosion were designed to function at a temperature no lower than 59 degrees. However, over time, NASA had launched the shuttle successfully at progressively lower temperatures until eventually on the morning of the Challenger launch, the temperature on the launch pad was 29 degrees.

Colonel Mike Mullane, Keynote speech IAFF Redmond Symposium Oct. 21-25, 2007

Day 1   19th Symposium held October 21-25, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois.

                                            National Best Safety Practices   

– TIM Network    http://timnetwork.org/
– FHWA Traffic Incident Management http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/eto_tim_pse/about/tim.htm
– Responder Safety Learning Network    http://learning.respondersafety.com/
– Fire Learning Network     http://www.fireherolearningnetwork.com/
– IACP * Officer Safety  http://www.theiacp.org/CenterforOfficerSafetyandWellness
– Towing and Recovery Association of America      http://www.towserver.net/
– Safe Highways   http://www.safehighways.org/
– TIM NETWORK  Facebook    National Traffic Incident Management Coalition
– IAFF Health, Safety, Medicine   http://www.iaff.org/hs/index.htm

2014  Virginia General Assembly  SB 293  Andrew’s Law  passes the Senate 40-0 … goes to House http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?ses=141&typ=bil&val=SB293&submit=GO
B. Any person who violates any misdemeanor provision of this article or violates § 46.2-921.1 and as a direct and proximate cause strikes a worker who was not in a vehicle, was on a public roadway or work zone, and was engaged in his official duties and thereby causes the death or permanent and significant physical impairment of such worker is guilty of a Class 5 felony, and such person shall be ordered to pay a mandatory minimum fine of $2,500.

* Virginia’s Slow Down/Move Law *        46.2-921.1

2014       Killed in the Line of Duty
Police Officers      9   http://www.odmp.org/search/year/2014?ref=sidebar

Fire Fighters        11   http://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities/

EMS                           ?   http://www.nemsms.org/notices.htm

Towers                    ?    http://www.internationaltowingmuseum.org/

Eric  Reddeck   HRFSOC@cox.net
NFFF  * Everyone Goes Home Advocate    http://www.everyonegoeshome.com

Filed Under: The Responder February 2014, View from the Street

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