BlueWolf's Howl

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February 02, 2003

Fatal Ignorance

Experts Warned Of Budget Cuts, Safety Concerns

I hate to bring such a contrary view to such a tragic event... I know people are sad and still digesting the news. But, my first reaction to the news of the Columbia was anger. I knew what had happened. It was obvious.

I knew somewhere someone must have voiced concern and been shouted down or ignored. They probably said it as early as they realized it - and were probably belittled or ridiculed. The next flight proved the "Chicken Littles" wrong... As time went on, I'm sure the warnings got stronger. And the "proof" that they were wrong got stronger. See -- nothing's happened in YEARS...

Then in a quick instant seven lives were lost.

How do I know this? Why was this my first reaction? Because the fields of safety and security are very related. The top people in the company or organization always give lip service to safety and security. They're good buzzwords to use in speeches and meetings. They're great words to throw at middle management (and for managers to throw at staff) -- but they're meaningless without support from the highest levels of management. Safety costs. Security costs. It's overhead. It doesn't bring in any additional revenue. But it costs MUCH more to ignore it.

They pay big bucks to "experts" ... and then ignore the recommendations. The families of the astronauts want NASA to "fix it and move on"... I wish someone could actually fix what's wrong...

Posted by BlueWolf on February 2, 2003 10:11 PM