Friday, April 30, 2010

you CAN be too careful

There's a saying that goes, you can never be too careful. And clearly they are talking about safety and being on the cautious side of things. I think that's wrong or partially incorrect. It is possible to be too careful and it can be costly at times.

Aviation whether it's a flight training, air taxi, airline or any other company in between has always revolved around the topic of safety. It is the core, the foundation, the epicenter of the whole infrastructure of what we call Aviation. Anything that has to do with flying, has to do with safety. If it wasn't the case, the whole flying industry would literally and figuratively plummet from the sky. But what if these companies decide to all of the sudden think you can never be too careful?

Well if by being too careful means taking no risk, well then unpack your bags cause your airline may not be flying anymore. In flying there are all sorts of hazards that are at risk, to name a few there's wind, weather, system failures and so on. But that doesn't mean you wouldn't take an airplane through weather with some wind and well the systems are kind of important to keep the airplane flying. And risk, well everyone has their own perception of risk which depends on many factors like past experience and so on (that's a whole can of worms.)

That's the reason why safety isn't defined as the absence of risk...instead it's a condition that exists when hazards are managed to an acceptable risk. (straight from my safety management systems course).

So if by being too careful means you aren't taking risk then the quote you can never be too careful is simply wrong. Take your risks and manage them according to your own perception and level of acceptance. You may not be running a multi-million dollar company but you will definitely be rewarded in some way, shape or form. High risk means high reward (usually)

"Being scared means you're onto something important. If you're not scared then you're not taking chances, if you're not taking chances then what the hell are you doing?" 

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