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Articles: NASA leader vows to improve safety

Posted by admin on Wednesday, April 14, 2004 - 01:24 AM

WASHINGTON- NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe pledged Tuesday to open up communication among agency employees and encourage dissent in an effort to improve safety.
The new call for reform of NASA's work force "culture" came in response to an independent agency-wide survey of employees that found many workers feel unappreciated and are afraid to speak up about safety concerns. "We need to create a climate in which open communication is not only permissible but is actively encouraged," O'Keefe told reporters one day after releasing a 145-page report by Behavioral Science Technology Inc., a California-based consultant. "There's certainly a view out there that there's a real reticence to pipe up in an open setting." O'Keefe promised to put in place a number of initiatives recommended by the consultant to improve NASA's safety culture over the next three years, including one-on-one coaching sessions for senior-level managers. The reform effort stems from the work of the space shuttle Columbia's accident investigation board, which condemned NASA management for not encouraging more open dissent in evaluating safety concerns. Langley Research Center will not be part of the initial reform effort, NASA officials said. For the first five or six months, NASA is targeting several centers that fared worse than Langley in the employee survey, including the Glenn Research Center in Ohio and the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The consulting group also will focus on some mission operations and engineering sectors of Johnson Space Center in Texas. The focus, officials said, will be to train managers to work more closely with employees and encourage dissent. "We're not talking about the worker down at the bottom," said James L. Jennings, associate deputy administrator for institutions and asset management. "We're talking about the leadership. We have to work at that middle-management level." To emphasize the need for top managers to reassess their work style, the consultant plans to begin its work today with a private coaching session with O'Keefe. A top priority, O'Keefe said, will be to make sure managers solicit opposing views so that all safety concerns are more carefully scrutinized. "If there isn't a minority view that exists, then go out and find one," O'Keefe said of the new mindset he hopes to instill. "It helps moderate stridency if they start hearing the opposing view." Langley employees generally gave NASA high marks, but said they get little organizational support for their concerns and believe budget constraints could compromise mission safety. "This is one issue we're really going to need to work at hard," O'Keefe said. But he stopped short of acknowledging any funding shortfall, saying the conflict among employees may stem from differing views over the process used to ensure safety.

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