NASA Safety Training Center

NASA centers strike an ideal balance between scientific advancement and space exploration with safety at the forefront. They do this through constant messages, trainings and mechanisms for reporting concerns.

The Safety Culture team recently revamped two SATERN courses aimed at learners and supervisors. These updated versions cover definition of safety culture, NASA’s five factors of support for creating an ideal work environment as well as learner responsibilities to support that environment.

Construction Safety and Fall Prevention

NASA Centers across the nation will join a nationwide effort from June 2-6th to prevent worker falls in construction. Falls are one of the leading causes of fatalities among construction workers and almost all can be avoided with proper safety practices. OSHA will collaborate with industry, labor, community groups and others in raising awareness about working at heights hazards.

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NASA facilities are built with safety in mind, but assuring their integrity requires constant reminders, trainings and reporting mechanisms. Each center fosters a culture of safety by providing infrastructure and IT support that allow its workforce to complete its duties safely.

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance serves as the focal point of agency-wide program and institutional safety and assurance activities, offering leadership, policy direction and functional management for such activities across both programs and institutions. Furthermore, this office develops, maintains and oversees requirements, methods and tools related to safety assurance within the agency.

Space flight is inherently risky business, and human spaceflight advances require innovation that balances with risks inherent in space travel. A dedicated team is responsible for identifying, characterizing, mitigating and communicating risks in order to ensure safe and successful human spaceflight missions.

An integral component of NASA’s risk management process is an effective and integrated risk management procedure that integrates elements of hazard identification, characterization and mitigation with stakeholder needs and expectations. This requires strong leadership as well as participation by all staff – scientists, engineers, managers, contractors etc.

To ensure an efficient and standardized process, each NASA center must implement emergency management programs, plans, and procedures which align with National Incident Management System (NIMS) and National Response Framework. This involves creating continuity of Operations Plans as well as managing disaster recovery and incident response processes.

NASA facilities’ safety programs are evaluated through their own Institutional Safety Program Audit (ISPA), which serves as a constructive evaluation of their performance and effectiveness, including quality, implementation and compliance with agency and OSHA safety requirements.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Utilizing PPE is essential to workplace safety. From handling hazardous materials, working on power systems or operating vehicles – finding a fit is crucial! Furthermore, proper care of PPE will extend its effectiveness and lifespan. NSC offers two free classes on the proper use of PPE including how to identify hazards and select suitable equipment.

NASA recognizes the importance of creating a robust safety culture within each center. Each center is encouraged to celebrate successes while increasing safety at work with regular messages and trainings.

NASA recently conducted its Safety Culture Survey and found that while they rated highly in most categories, NASA employees can do better at adapting to change. To assist their effort and promote positive responses to change, SATERN developed two new courses on accepting, communicating and reacting positively towards changes.

NSC also provides SMA practitioners and other NASA employees with additional tools, including its website which contains many resources for SMA practices such as safety videos, best practices, case studies, mishap warning-action responses and mishap investigation reports.

NSC is committed to delivering high-quality, value-added programs, services and tools that ensure personnel safety, asset protection and the successful achievement of strategic goals. Their mission is to manage agency safety and mission assurance requirements across their portfolio of missions, projects and facilities.

Testing and Launch Operations Safety at NASA oversees all requirements to protect personnel and assets during human-controlled, unoccupied, or robotic testing operations at facilities and external sites, such as all test facilities/equipment/test conduct/documentation requirements.

Electrical Safety at every NASA facility ensures the safe use of all electrically powered equipment and devices, such as inspections, tests, certifications, and training programs. It includes managing any incidents that arise related to electricity (incidents), accidents or injuries related to electricity as well as testing certification and training sessions.

Payload Safety provides an overview of the Payload Safety Process, detailing how to participate in its Review and Approval phase. Furthermore, this course discusses the roles and responsibilities of members of the Payload Safety Working Group, Launch Site Integration Managers and Launch Pad Safety Team members.

Safety Training and Certification

After the loss of Challenger in 1986, NASA committed itself to making safety its top priority. Since then, NASA employees are encouraged to discuss safety issues openly and feel confident balancing challenges and risks while keeping safety top of mind for themselves and for the agency as a whole. They trust their colleagues throughout the enterprise will take measures to prevent accidents and create a healthy work environment.

NASA strives to foster an inclusive safety culture by hosting several trainings each year for new employee orientation and refresher courses as well as specific equipment training courses. Furthermore, NASA focuses on instilling good habits through daily activities by offering resources like posters, handouts, best practices and case studies that encourage developing the necessary safety knowledge and habits.

The Office of Safety and Mission Assurance oversees several subdisciplines that manage occupational, facility, and operational safety programs within the agency. Institutional Safety is among them and responsible for administering policies and requirements regarding construction safety, fire protection, and electrical safety.

Institutional Safety Division provides technical expertise, information and verification. Their mission is to foster world-class safety management (SMA) practices within NASA missions, projects and operations.

Institutional efforts typically include SMA training and certification, knowledge management systems and audits/assessments. Furthermore, mishap investigations are also undertaken in order to pinpoint their source and make improvements accordingly.

NSC provides SMA training to aerospace line service personnel through its Aviation 1st program and also provides career-oriented learning through STEP; employees participating in this program receive basic SMA education with opportunities for certification in one of seven disciplines.

Motor Vehicle Safety is another key focus of the NSC. The agency monitors policies and procedures affecting motor vehicle operations, such as continuous duty time for operators, policies that ban handheld devices while driving and vehicle inspections. 

Furthermore, it maintains both the System for Tracking Audits/ Assessments/ Reviews as well as Qualifications Certification Approvals Requirements Database to track audits/assessments/reviews etc.

Mishap Investigation

An investigation is the process of gathering facts to understand what occurred and why. The purpose is to prevent future incidents. Investigations include providing a narrative description of an incident and its facts, determining its proximate and root causes as well as their contributing factors, making observations and finding relevant to said investigation, as well as issuing recommendations by way of mishap investigation boards. 

The board consists of members from within the agency with expertise to conduct the investigation. Responsibilities of this office include overseeing an investigation; assigning group leaders; overseeing document and information gathering activities; interviewing witnesses about events surrounding an incident, reconstructing it as best possible, identifying causal, intermediate, root and contributing factors and conducting any necessary remedial measures.

Keep, store, and keep any evidence that is relevant to an investigation into a mishap, including flight equipment, documents such as logbooks, flight hardware, and electronic records. Be sure that any material you consider to be confidential is clearly labeled as such prior to making it accessible to the investigation board to view or access.  Work closely with IRT members and stakeholders on creating the final investigation board report as applicable.

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Review and approve a public-releasable mishap investigation status report before sending it out to all involved in the investigation, such as the Accident Investigator, Center Director or Program Manager, cognizant Safety Office, HQ SMA and agency OA/OAs. This status report should address facts on investigation to date while also serving as the endorsing official for all mishaps wherein IA serves as Accident Investigator (AO).

Human factors specialists serve an integral part of any investigation board by helping gather and analyze relevant data; offering expert advice regarding human factors affecting mishap causation; and developing recommendations. He or she may provide expert support to other investigation board members. 

Based on the nature of each investigation, an IA will decide if an ex officio member is necessary. OSMA mishap investigation specialists tend to be the best choice because of their technical expertise in the area of investigation. An ex officio will ensure the investigation complies with NASA policy and this NPR. He or she won’t participate in deliberations sessions nor vote on findings, but may read, listen to, or analyze witness interviews instead.