
Point it, call it, get it right (2018) - cjg
https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2018/01/point-it-call-i
======
dantillberg
I've started doing this re wearing safety glasses when using a power saw for
hobby projects. Cutting things with the saw is only a small part of the
overall work I'm doing, so I don't like to leave the glasses on the whole
time. I realized there's a good chance I'd forget to put them back on when I
needed to cut something new.

So every time, before I pull the trigger on the saw, I now touch the side of
the safety glasses with my free hand and say out loud, "glasses on."

It felt super goofy at first, but after a while the safety check became part
of the cadence and rhythm of turning on the saw. I feel much less likely to
get a shard of wood or aluminum in my eye as long as I keep it up.

~~~
noir_lord
I tap my pockets for the same items in the same orders and say the item
outline. Wallet, phone, keys and vape.

Done it everyday for years and I haven't left anything for about that long,
it's pure auto pilot but I know straight away if I've forgotten something.

Silly the things that work sometimes.

------
FabHK
When I fly and go through the checklists, I call out the setting and touch the
pertinent item ("Fuel Selector - BOTH"), and sometimes even flip it to the
other position and back ("Alternate Static Air - [move to on, then back to]
OFF").

Benefits:

* makes it more likely that I actually check, rather than just see what I expect to be the case

* co-pilot (or passengers!) can follow and verify what I'm doing

* for rarely used items (such as the alternate static air) it makes sure that I know where it is and don't have to fumble for it,

* I check how it "feels", so I could detect if something feels off (for example, throttle cables have occasionally broken loose from the control knob).

Several aircraft have come down just because crews "followed" the checklist,
but didn't actually check.

* "After the aircraft was returned into service, the flight crew overlooked the pressurisation system state on three separate occasions: during the pre-flight procedure, the after-start check, and the after take-off check. During these checks, no one in the flight crew noticed the incorrect setting."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522)

* "The flight engineer was found to have failed to open the slat system bleed air valves as required on the pre-flight checklist."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_540](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufthansa_Flight_540)

~~~
sokoloff
I have “looked” and called out "airspeed alive" on a failed ASI before. (It
clicked a moment later in time to abort, but if there were a CVR, the word
“Alive” would have been on the tape.) Seeing what you expect from rote is a
genuine problem.

------
markstos
I tried this, but my co-workers asked me to quit yelling "use strict" while
pointing at the top of the file.

~~~
peterwwillis
You'd think they'd already be yelling after reading the shebang...

~~~
leetcrew
maybe if william hung is on your team...

------
lloydde
Brings to mind: Why Japan’s Rail Workers Can’t Stop Pointing at Things A
seemingly silly gesture is done for the sake of safety. BY ALLAN RICHARZ MARCH
29, 2017 [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-
calling-j...](https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/pointing-and-calling-
japan-trains)

April 2018 HN discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14011793](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14011793)

------
i_am_proteus
The nuclear industry has something very similar, and in my experience it's
extremely effective. It also gives anyone else in the space with you a chance
to speak up if you're about to do something wrong.

~~~
lb1lf
I do the same when commissioning our products - winch systems for the offshore
industry. My assumption is that the big, bad piece of machinery is actively
trying to kill me and anyone in the vicinity if we give it even half a chance.

Calling out the checklist items lead both me and others to not take any
shortcuts and never assume anything, also ensuring everyone is up to speed on
what is about to happen.

I knew I was doing something right when, after intentionally leaving out a
step to see if the apprentice was paying attention, I immediately got a good
dressing down for my trouble.

~~~
i_am_proteus
Amen, hermano. Good practices in mechanical systems industries seem to cross
disciplines because they _work._

------
mikro2nd
Not being a UX/ergonomics buff, I wonder how something like this might be
employed in software UIs, particularly those controlling/monitoring safety-
critical systems.

Any UX experts in the house?

~~~
crummy
Maybe if you had to say "DELETE" out loud when hovering over the "are you sure
you want to delete this?" confirmation to verify it.

~~~
icebraining
That makes sense, but forcing the user to change modes is bad. If I'm using a
touchscreen, I often can't make noises; if I'm using voice, I often can't
touch the screen.

~~~
dexen
_> forcing the user to change modes is bad_

Congratulations, you named the very reason this technique is effective. I am
not being facetious here.

The whole idea is to make the user perform disruptive, unfitting actions -both
in the mind and physically- to improve chances of catching errors.

First, to both make the mind "shift gears", or perform a "context switch",
with all the related cache-flushing and prediction-discarding and all that.

Second, to activate brain regions that were hitherto suspended; the ones
associated with other senses and skills, in particular with vocal skills.
Fleshing out abstract concepts into concrete words helps catch mistakes, just
like putting abstract feature requests into concrete diagrams or code helps
with catching errors or inconsistent expectations & assumptions.

~~~
icebraining
Fair enough; I missed that mikro2nd mentioned safety-critical systems. In that
case, sure, let's adapt the whole environment to allow for those mode changes.

I was thinking more about systems where no lives are at stake, and there I
think there's no need to change modes, one can be DISRUPTIVE ENOUGH by using
the same IO channels, which are quite flexible already.

------
circular_logic
This reminds me of somthing I tend to do when paring on an ops-like task. I
will point and speek the resource name that I am about to delete or CMD I am
about to run and get my pair to conferm before proceeding. Honestly makes
tasks (espishaly production tasks) a lot less nerve racking. Would recommend
it.

~~~
smachiz
espishaly is especially special.

------
jolmg
I do this after eating dinner, before going to bed. I do it for the door locks
of the house, the knobs/dials of the stove, the gas valve behind the stove,
the fridge door (giving it a push instead of pointing at it), the sink (to
make sure it's clear of dishes), the windows.

I also do it for my car locks and windows to make sure they're closed and
locked before leaving it. I'll make a point of it to touch the windows at the
top edge and pull the handles.

~~~
TooCleverByHalf
Commitment but it makes me wonder where to draw the line.

~~~
jolmg
Checking toilet and sink faucet before leaving bathrooms?

------
frereubu
Site looks like it's down. Text-only Google cache version:
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hPbnMAa...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hPbnMAa-
MpsJ:https://www.flightsafetyaustralia.com/2018/01/point-it-call-it-get-it-
right/&client=safari&hl=en&gl=uk&strip=1&vwsrc=0)

------
m463
This reminds me of lifeguards, which seem to have changed their techniques
since I was a kid.

They seem to point at one end of the pool and move their finger back and forth
to the othe end of the pool.

------
wwarner
Something a bit like this is practiced by NYC subway conductors:
[https://youtu.be/i9jIsxQNz0M](https://youtu.be/i9jIsxQNz0M)

------
nayuki
I point left and right to look for oncoming cars before crossing the street. I
feel safer and more aware of my surroundings this way.

------
insertnickname
TDD in a nutshell.

