Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Rob P
#1847040
The latest bit of Airspace & Safety Initiative I have just stumbled across starts off

To many, the term Threat and Error Management, or TEM, suggests a complex activity which is a bit on the heavy side for recreational aviation.


It then spends three screens' worth of mobile phone telling me how simple a concept this is.

The phrase then repeats at monotonously regular intervals throughout the A&SI's blandishments not to trespass on the complex and ill-planned controlled airspace of the UK.

Seems to me that it's a fashionable buzz phrase, and the authors of the postings gain brownie points from their lords and masters for each repetition.

Then maybe its just me?

Rob P
flybymike liked this
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By MattL
#1847043
Taught properly, TEM is a really useful way of building and coaching safety thinking and judgement in students and inexperienced pilots. Far better than dictating do this, do that... Sadly some FIs don’t really understand it / haven’t made an effort to think about it so dismiss it which rubs off on people around them.
WhoWhenWhy?, AlanC liked this
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By NDB_hold
#1847075
It’s both: it’s fashionable (and over complicated) jargon for a useful concept which has been around for a long time, 'what are you going to do if X happens' or 'if you **** up Y'? Good instructors have been teaching it for years.

Predicting these in advance and having a plan has always been a part of good airmanship.
T6Harvard liked this
By johnm
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1847076
I have been of the view that it accelerated in the late 1980s and was driven by big consultancy houses and business schools. We had a rash of "new" terminology and roles in the IT industry and I used to amuse myself from time to time (when subjected to presentations) by translating the terminology back into traditional job titles.....
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1847085
First I came across TEM was when I did the Thai Human Factors Exam.
I’m not sure the exam’s creator really understood it...
The old word we used to use was “Safety”, it seemed many more people understood the meaning of this word.

I’ve just done the CRI course, and I was a little surprised though not totally surprised, to see the term TEM used rather than Safety.
I suppose the hope is that students come to an understanding of TEM during their training.
This is not to criticise TEM, but the idea of ‘keeping it simple’ is lost...
What is the statistical increase in ‘safety’?

There is another one on the Thai human factors exam and it is: S H E L L

Software
Hardware
Environment
Liveware 1
Liveware 2

If humans fail to understand and comply with these new programs then we should automate flying and take them out of the equation.
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By MattL
#1847087
One of the key things TEM introduced was the reinforcement of the concept of Errors made by us humans - ‘old school airmanship’ was always things that could happen to us.

I’m often told by some FIs it’s all airmanship and safety innit and no need for all this new fangled rubbish. LOOKOUT is obvious! A chat to some of their students often reveals they’ve never been taught how to lookout, no idea actually how to sequence lookout and sit scared throughout the flight of being told they’re not looking out enough.
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By MichaelP
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1847094
I’m often told by some FIs it’s all airmanship and safety innit and no need for all this new fangled rubbish. LOOKOUT is obvious!


Before “TEM” I taught the lookout and how it is most effectively done, and emphasised it’s importance to the instructors.
This was especially true in China where the students were used to controlled airspace with the luxury of watching the G1000 screens rather than dividing their attention outside.
There were several corrections required especially when I was boss of Binjou in Shandong province. We had Class D within the overall Class B, with air to ground communication!

It was an uphill struggle, safety was important to me as I did not want to sit in a Chinese jail while they worked out who was responsible for a potential accident.

After I left a DA40 collided with a DA42 at Baotou... Those who I struggled with were asked at the inquiry: “What did Michael say?”

This was before TEM so I am not sure how the importance of Lookout in a Safety briefing is improved in a TEM briefing?

I was head of SMS once, did the course.... Safety is a culture that is developed from the top. It behoves all of us regardless of TEM, or SHEL(L).
Is it improved by terminology?
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