Safety and Security… Who is responsible?

           

            How secure is your Helicopter, your Base or your Quarters?  Crew members bring a lot of personal items to work with them, often expensive items.  We assume that coworkers and others will not take them.  That is unless it is something left in the refrigerator, right? 

            Our employers provide expensive equipment and tools that allow us to do our jobs, not to mention the controlled drugs we are responsible for keeping secure.   Again, often we assume that everyone is as honest as we are.  Is this a flaw in our character or belief system?  Are we setting ourselves, and our employer up to be victims? 

Patients have faith that we will be honest and respect their belongings and personal property, as well as their personal information.  And as a general rule this belief is fair and well deserved.  Hopefully, by the time the Air Crew team members get to the point of being in this type of position, those less than trustworthy have been weeded out.  All of us have gone through countless hours of training about HIPPA and understand the repercussions of violating the plainly written rules and laws, as well as the unspoken ones.

We need to remember that not everyone has the same moral compass that we do.  Generally, this is against our nature and a hard pill to swallow.  But, we need to remember that only we can protect ourselves, our property and our equipment. 

It is a horrible feeling to go to your aircraft and find a piece of equipment that is vital to the operation stolen.  It may put us out of service and prevent us from responding to a request for help.  An incident like this may cost a person their life.  Not to mention it will cost the company money in both lost revenue and replacement cost for the equipment. 

So, whose job is it to ensure security of our equipment?  Is it yours?  Is it mine?  Or is it the responsibility of the company we are working for?  My answer is simple.  It is all of the above.  All of us have to assume responsibility for security.  It is ours, in that we should use all reasonable means to secure our equipment at all times.  If for some reason there is a flaw in the system, it is our responsibility to point out the flaw and provide a suggestion or resolution for the flaw.  Once we have provided the insight, it becomes the responsibility of those we reported the issue to and ours to follow up on.  

I have the expectation that the company I work for will provide me with a secure facility with reasonable mechanisms to ensure safety and security.   It is my responsibility to use these to safeguard my personal property, as well as the company’s equipment and property.  We are all human and prone to falling short from time to time.  That is why we work as a team.  The idea is that if one of us falls short, the others will pick up on it and address the issue.  We do this all the time when we are operating but, when we are relaxed and don’t feel in danger this can cause a failure. 

Both SAFETY and SECURITY are the responsibility of each of us.  Only we can protect ourselves, our partners, and our employers from danger.  It does not matter where that danger is coming from, it is up to us. Let’s step it up and watch out for each other.

Your comments are welcome and encouraged!