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'Hold my beer... Watch this!'

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Chris Ashby
  • 20th Fighter Wing Safety Chief
Chances are that whatever follows that phrase will no doubt be some spectacular event that others will critique as they read the subsequent accident report. Who knows? This safety-defiant, alcohol-induced lack of judgment may even make the Darwin Awards! Whether it's the urban legend of the guy that attached jet-assisted takeoff rockets to his car or the true story of Larry Walters, who flew up to 16,000 feet over Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by weather balloons, these events capture our attention and hopefully we learn from them.

Such is the purpose of Air Force Safety. We provide the necessary tools and the lessons learned from the past to prevent future accidents and incidents by mitigating risk while creating a culture of safety.

The reality of safety is that it generally boils down to common sense and good judgment. It's been said that good judgment comes from experience and most experience comes from poor judgment.

Our goal is to give our folks the benefits of others' experience so they don't make the same mistakes themselves.

Of course, we also provide the tools for assessing risk by teaching you operational risk management, the six-step process by which you can assess the risk involved in a task or operation:
-- Identify the Hazards. 
-- Assess the Risk. 
-- Analyze Risk Control Measures. 
-- Make Control Decisions. 
-- Implement Risk Controls. 
-- Supervise and Review.

Because we all know that "Seven-Minute Abs" is better than "Eight-Minute Abs," we have further reduced this process to only three steps. The acronym is actually very easy to remember -- ACT.
-- Assess the environment for risk. Be aware of your surroundings, duties and tasks on and off duty. Analyze what could go wrong. What are the chances of something happening?
-- Consider options to limit risk. What can you do about it? Is it worth the risk to do it? Does the risk require you to elevate the decision making process?
-- Take appropriate action. Implement risk controls (take preventive action). Does your action control the risk? If not, start the process again. Spread the word!

Let others learn from your experience.

We could boil this down even further to one question, "Is it worth the risk?" Is it worth getting arrested and thrown in jail for a DUI when a cab only costs $20?

Is it worth death or permanent disability to jump over that bonfire while wearing shorts and flip flops?

Be advised -- alcohol impairs judgment! Yep, that's the first thing to go after a couple drinks. Realize this impairment if you have been drinking and take the cautious route. Your exploits will not seem as monumental the following morning, and it's not worth the risk.

Oh, by the way, someone did try to mimic Mr. Walters' lawn chair flight. On Jan. 1, 1984, Kevin Walsh attached himself to 57 weather balloons and took off from Minuteman Airfield in Stow, Mass. Learning from the past, he chose to bring along a parachute, which he used to float down from 9,000 feet. Be safe!