6. Who is responsible for safety at NASA?
Everyone at NASA is responsible for safety.
While that sentiment makes a great quote or looks good as an inspirational catch phrase on an office wall poster, it's much more difficult to fully realize.
One of NASA's biggest challenges now is to ensure that everyone who is qualified to make observations and participate in making things safer knows how to offer their input -- whether they are part of a particular program's normal chain of command or not.
During testimony before the Columbia board by safety officials, witnesses often confused board members with their descriptions of who they report to and where their budget comes from. As a result, the CAIB report is going to call for NASA to establish clearer lines of authority within the safety community.
To help illustrate their thinking, the board will describe how other high-risk operations -- such as aboard nuclear-powered submarines -- balance safety with such factors as engineering requirements, schedule and budget.
The way NASA deals with e-mails in the future also deserves some scrutiny. When an engineer asks a safety-related question and uses rather informal, but dramatic language (e.g. "If you don't fix this it's going to be a bad day!") a system should be in place to clarify intent. Is this water cooler talk between friends? Or a serious cry for help from a concerned engineer?
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