Shackleton's Unfinished Business

The South Pole is a formidable environment, fraught with challenges worthy of the greatest explorers on earth and beset with danger. Everything is more extreme and everything is also magnified beyond normal proportion. The simplest of tasks in 100mph winds are painstakingly laborious to complete and the physical challenges are only surpassed by their mental equivalents.

The forthcoming Sub100 South Pole expedition, which will complete Shackleton’s failed Trans-Antarctic crossing as part of a TV documentary series will have the full training support of HBP-Training. The team will be led by prominent Polar Explorer and ex Royal Marine Commando, Charlie Paton as he bids to complete Shackleton’s Unfinished Business. As part of this magnificent story I will be blogging monthly on the teams training, explaining the techniques utilised by us (HBP-Training) during their preparation. We understand the importance of Human Factors and psychological preparation in dangerous and hostile environments, so too does Charlie, the expedition members and production crew. Training for the technical aspect is without question vital, but perhaps the training for the mental and psychological challenges will be the most important. If the attempt should fail, it will most probably centre around one of the team being unable to adequately cope with the mental pressures of such an arduous undertaking – this will be a failure on our part as the training team. All angles of Human Factors will be exposed in this most hostile setting, and with that all potential eventualities need to be trained for within the team. Decision-making, situational awareness and safety critical communication will be amongst the most important aspects of a successful trip amongst others. Perhaps the most pivotal factor, however, is how the team manages stress, fatigue and circadian rhythm of the adventurers.

The team will be spending over 100 days on the Antarctic continent; prolonged fatigue will have the most profound impact on the decision-making and performance of the team. Simple tasks like putting a pair of boots on can reduce competent and strong polar adventurers to tears of despair. In the preparation for this we have a duty of care to place the team under more duress than they have ever experienced. We also have a duty of care to Charlie and the team to prepare their minds for the challenges that lay ahead, and it’s a duty we will not compromise on. In the months leading up to the polar attempt they must be challenged to breaking point and beyond both physically and mentally, the simplest way to achieve this is through sleep deprivation and prolonged exposure to fatigue in challenging situations. When they are at their most fatigued and stressed we will ask them to make decisions that have consequences to the safety of themselves and the team. It is important we observe them closely at their limits, because for 100 days that is exactly where they will live their lives: and once on the ice the choice to opt out is not within their immediate circle of influence and jeopardises the entire trip.  There is also added pressure that should be acknowledged. They only have one opportunity to complete Shackleton’s Unfinished Business on the 100-year anniversary, Charlie knows this, the production team know it, the team does: we do also. The romance of the story is lost if the team fails and returns the following year for the 101^st anniversary; this will add pressure intrinsically to the team. It might not be a topic of discussion but all involved will know this unmistakable deadline looms ominously on the polar horizon.

If you’re interested in how we intend to train the team for the expedition please join me and share this monthly blog.

  

I look forward to being a part of this amazing journey and I hope you enjoy reading more about it in the coming months.

Living In a Shadow

I have frequently tried, unsuccessfully, to write an article about the Aberfan coal disaster of 1966. Without doubt, its one of the most tragic disasters to recount, and perhaps this is why it is so difficult to write a neutral and balanced article about it? Recently I have finished reading the brilliantly insightful ‘Wilful Blindness’ by Margaret Heffernan, which ‘nudged’ me to finally complete this blog. Throughout the book, without actually referencing Aberfan, there are examples immediately recognisable to the conditions that led to that fateful day in 1966. Aberfan was a disaster so great it scarred a community still felt today and wiped out an entire generation of children. 

There are seminal moments in time that are so significant they scar your memory with your location and what you were doing when you first heard the news. Tragic, or triumphant, they become ingrained in memory. The Twin Towers, or the assassination of JFK. England winning the world cup, or Andy Murray winning Wimbledon, they become psychological watersheds in your timeline; for better or worse. The Aberfan coal disaster is such an event.

For over 50 years the National Coal Board (NCB) deposited millions of cubic metres of colliery waste on Merthyr Mountain above the village of Aberfan. These ‘slag heaps’ lay on porous sandstone rock, which in turn contained multiple natural springs below ground, and streams above. Villagers and miners had expressed their concerns about the natural springs that lay beneath the nearly 800ft high waste tip for years. These concerns were dismissed by the NCB who reassured the local community what they were doing was safe practice. On the morning of 21 October 1966 after days of continuous rain a process called thixotropy occurred beneath the slagheap, this released around 40,000 cubic metres of unwanted coal and rock drenched in rainwater onto the village below. Before reaching the Pentglas School it destroyed 20 houses and a farm. The children of the School were taking part in the morning assembly, while singing ‘All things bright and beautiful’ the rumbling of the fast approaching landslide was heard. On this terrible morning 28 adults and 116 children between the ages of 7 – 10 were killed.

This abhorrent wilful blindness and callous hubris from the NCB management, and in particular it’s Chairman Lord Robens, created a ticking time bomb of unimaginable proportions.

The tragic irony of the wilful blindness exhibited by many involved in the months leading up to the disaster was the transparency of the problem. The dangers were clear for all to see, and furthermore many villagers and miners intuitively knew this practice would sooner or later fail. Transparency is a good thing within any risk managing industry, with transparency comes accountability. Often in the presence these conditions people do the ‘right’ things; without it present the opposite can occur.  There is a paradox of transparency with the Aberfan disaster however. On one hand there can be nothing more openly visible and transparent than an 800ft slack coal heap, lay on springs and clearly marked on OS maps of the area. On the other hand, the information known by the NCB was concealed within the shadows, both before and after the tragedy. Large human factor accidents are rarely the work of criminals, more likely repeated examples of human fallibility and misadventure, or at worst gross incompetence by few. The leadership and management of the NCB came in for scathing criticism during the Davies inquiry and subsequent report, particular blame was attributed to Lord Robens who had shown a complete lack of honesty both before and after the disaster. Amongst the worst acts of dishonesty, Lord Robens denied knowledge of the springs beneath the tip; this infuriated the villagers who knew this not to be true. He also claimed they were not to a contributing factor to the disaster. Lord Robens also staunchly refused to pay the £150,000 needed for the removal of further tips, adding further distress to the grief stricken community. Eventually this bill was paid by the disaster relief fund set up to give financial aid to the village, this would be a heinous wrong that would remain so until the incoming Labour government of Tony Blair, in 1997, instructed the money be paid back. Press intrusion in the aftermath further increased the suffering and distress felt by the villagers who were placed under an intrusive media spotlight. Claims by some of the villagers that a journalist had been heard encouraging a child to cry for her lost friends to enhance the drama of a photograph were appalling, to say the least.

This was contrasted by the public outpouring of sympathy for the grief striken community, which resulted in nearly £1.6 million being raised. To place this into context this would be over £21 million today without the Internet, social media or constant news coverage.

There were many lessons learnt after Aberfan. The Davis Enquiry was rightfully scathing of the management and leadership of the NCB and particularly Lord Robbens. Incredibly, however, Lord Robens kept his job and its perhaps his conduct after the tragedy that draws the most criticism. Most of all there was an incredible lack of transparency displayed by the NCB leadership. Transparency is a wonderfully honest quality, when behaviour is transparent it is usually honest and correct. Even when the behaviours are wrong, they are more often unintentional and can be corrected without serious reprimand. Consider this, can you ever recall getting caught doing something wrong. The instant reaction is to cover up and conceal the truth, human behaviour tells us people don’t conceal or cover up their actions when they’re doing the ‘right’ thing.

I can’t help but wonder that had there been more transparency in 1966 we may have been able to avoid one of the most tragic events of the 20^th century?     

The Cost of Uncertainty

The recent downturn in the price of oil has sent shock waves through the Oil & Gas industry worldwide. The prolonged and steady fall in value since June has left the industry with an end of year price of less than $60 per barrel. There are many ways to look at the cause and effect equation of this, for many countries that import oil this signals good news with the price of fuel tumbling in recent months. In fact any industry that requires fuel to operate should be reaping the fruits of this crude oil tumble in value. The international politics of this current situation is seismic, the UK with than 1.8% of the world production is dually concerned, also it furthermore highlights the precarious wealth enjoyed in Aberdeen – what will the city do after the Oil & Gas is finished? 

If this is the political effect of the drop in value, what is the upstream cost to the safety of those working within this dangerous industry?

When shares tumble companies usually look to streamline operations in various fast and arguably effective ways. Reduce the workforce, stop hiring, and reduce training and development are all viable options to weather the storm.  All of these have produced disastrous safety consequences in the past however, both financially and reputational. There can be no uncertainty; safety and profit should never be confused. Lord Cullen emphasised this in his enquiry after Piper Alpha, and the same charge was given to the Deep Water Horizon platform. NASA has also felt this pain periodically with major shuttle losses within their space program in different decades, both with the same charge - compromising safety because of profit. CEO’s should be under no illusion that the message they give to their executives is resonated through the managers and magnified throughout the installations. This is especially prevalent during a period where the mainstream media appears to be fuelling concern for the future of the industry in the UK. Strong and dynamic leadership is imperative, as many working in this sector will be counselling caution for the forecasted growth uncertain times lay ahead. This uncertainty can be the final component needed to create the conditions required for a big accident. BP felt this pain with their CEO’s confusing ‘every dollar counts’ message, which was the precursor for the Macondo blow out. 

In fact many of the biggest accidents experienced in industry are found in the company of investment cuts and uncertainty.

This current downturn should not be the catalyst for a compromise in safety training; in fact we believe it can have a contribution to the cost effectiveness and profitability long term. Effective Human Factors training has many benefits; the Aviation industry knows this and regardless of fluctuation in share prices all aviation pilots and cabin crew must complete regular Crew Resource Management (CRM) training. Since mandatory CRM training was introduced this industry as seen a huge reduction in near misses and accidents, the upstream effect of this improved profit projections. When this training is applied alongside simple and effective management software the result is a safety culture that understands the human element contributing to accidents. 

There is a secondary gain from a safety culture; a reduction in accidents is an increase in profits. In these challenging times this can only be seen as a positive?