Safety by powerpoint. This is a blog about assumptions or preconceptions about safety management in the outdoor sector. This isn’t just the domain of senior instructors and heads of outdoor centres but a function of our collective behaviour.

“I sat down quietly in the instructors briefing having introduced myself and listened intently. Accustomed to meetings like this one in busy outdoor centres, I knew what to expect…”

After quickly framing things up the Deputy Head of Centre handed over control of the meeting to a young and fresh faced instructor who immediately pulled up a powerpoint slide. I was not new to carrying out these inspections and audits, but my sharp intake of breathe overtly announced my visceral reaction at the back of the room.

Death by PowerPoint

If you have heard or even used, the term “death by powerpoint” then you might know why? You might already understand my first reaction. We have all sat through some boring powerpoint lectures, and I have to be honest, I have probably delivered some.

While the phrase might be flippantly used to describe the loss of an audience, it is also thought to have emerged following the inquiry into the Columbia Space Shuttle disaster in 2003.

Rather than describing the tragedy that unfolded in detail, I would recommend this blog post here: Death by PowerPoint: the slide that killed seven people.

Space Shuttle Columbia

During take off, a loose tile damaged the wing of the space shuttle, and it was difficult to anticipate how significant this damage was. In orbit the space shuttle and the crew were safe. But NASA had to decide whether they should risk re-entry or send another space shuttle to collect the crew of Columbia. To inform this decision they listened to subject matter experts, in this case engineers.

Similar to many organisations, NASA’s engineers communicated their findings to decision makers using powerpoint. There were in fact 28 slides with detailed information. Following this meeting the engineers were satisfied that the information had been conveyed effectively and NASA officials had been presented with the risks. The NASA officials making the final decision had a slightly different interpretation. They understood that there was an absence of data, and the available evidence supported the view that there had not been enough damage to put the crew at risk.

The failure to reconcile these two sides of the same conversation resulted in tragedy.

Alex Pribula reconstructs the Columbia powerpoint presentation using five design principles to effectively convey critical information. For a deeper dive these are worth reviewing: https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5f23e43d8a5371874088bc71/5f2911252cd886b99d6a8f42_Design%20Principles%20Presentation.pdf

Safety by PowerPoint – Safety Management done well

Back to instructors briefing, I had made assumption about the way in which the risks of the day were going to be communicated. In fact, my preconception was that the risks may not be communicated at all. I was very wrong. What I was about to witness was safety management done well. Not only was the message clear and unambiguous, but it was delivered carefully so that everybody present understood their responsibilities for the day.

Safety by Powerpoint – The Message

Communication involves different elements. Somebody to send a message, somebody to receive a message, and the message itself…

The safety briefing for the day consisted of a carefully framed message which pulled out key points. The powerpoint consisted of four slides, the first consisted of a slide which outlined the providers values and the contribution expected of everybody in the delivery of safe activity. The second, consisted of a summary of the weather forecasts, highlighting the differences between two sources and the local conditions that could be expected. The third, included water levels for a gorge scrambling activity, including rainfall history. Crucially this information was shared with the criteria for change, presented as a simple Green-Amber-Red (GAR) scale. The message was clear for the day ahead, the mental model was one of “being in the green”, but with the desire that instructors monitored the situation through the day.

Finally, there was some specific data from the weather forecast, and a weather station close to the centre with temperatures and windspeeds. Again, the message went beyond the superficial and applied values to the planned activity for the day, with reminders on additional clothing, food and shelter for certain activities.

This last point might seem obvious. But rather than presenting the information alone, the instructor leading the briefing had subtly described the impact of the weather with some suggestions of changes to enhance safety and comfort.

Safety by PowerPoint – So What?

You might be reading this and thinking so what?

In the outdoor sector, communication (formal or otherwise) is often only reviewed after an incident of near miss, leaving us looking at the negative events of an unexpected occurrence. At the expense of describing an anonymous provider of outdoor activity, I want to look at the positives. This is an example of safety management done well.

1. Authority: This was an example of a relatively young instructor who had been given the role and the authority to lead on safety.
2. Focus: On this week they had been given the sole responsibility for safety. No logistics, learning objectives or staffing, those important areas were the responsibility of others. By design there was no ambiguity or competing demands.
3. Team: They were one of the instructor team. The week previously they were working with a group, while in this case they were talking to their peers. As such they have a fundamental understanding of the challenges of the ‘work as done’, and the trade-offs that need to be made to deliver safe, enjoyable and educational activity.

This approach also demonstrates leadership commitment to safety. Just think about that for a second. In this example, the role in question was resourced both financially (it was paid), and in time. It was also a specific task with the authority to lead on safety.

Finally, the work was planned to avoid conflicting demands and work pressures, so that attention could focus on safety. This did not happen by accident, it involved work design, clarity of role, responsibility and intent.

Safety by PowerPoint – A summary…

• PowerPoint can save lives.
• It is not the medium (PowerPoint), but the message itself (safety).
• Providers need competent people supported by good systems.
• Structure and process results in culture.

If you liked this article you may wish to read Human Factors – Change the person or the context? Procedures that we don’t always follow, even if we should. Check out Assured Training or E-Learning.