# Lt Col Chris Cote

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Most of us know people who are "accident prone." Do you believe there is
such a thing as being accident prone? I believe people who frequently
have accidents are poor managers of risks that they encounter in their
daily lives. I don't believe "Stuff Happens". In many cases an
individual has some control over their environment and can prevent
"Stuff" from happening to them. I will illustrate my point with some
actual mishaps.

Recently a deployed troop wanted to eat some soup. He placed a can of
soup (unopened) on a pot belly stove in the tent. After heating the
soup, he opened the can. While opening the can it exploded, spewing
mostly on his face; to include his forehead, bridge of his nose, his
right eye region, right cheek and a portion of his neck. The member
sustained first and second degree burns. He was wearing glasses which
spared his eyes from being burned. Is this a case of "Stuff Happens" or
did he create a hazard for himself when he deviated from his normal
method of heating soup?

Three friends wanted to visit another friend 90 miles away. On 30
December around 2230 the three of them drove to their friend\'s house
and arrived there around midnight. They all sat around talking for 2 or
3 hours and then fell asleep. They wanted to be home early on 31
December so they awoke around 0600 and headed home. The front passenger
seat occupant was wearing a seatbelt. The driver and the back seat
passenger were not wearing seatbelts. Both passengers were asleep. They
were 25 miles from home when the driver fell asleep. The vehicle was
traveling at approximately 70 mph in a 55 mph zone. The vehicle veered
off the road, struck the guardrail and then came to rest against a pole.
The driver was partially ejected and later died due to his injuries. The
front seat passenger lungs were both punctured, his left clavicle was
fractured and he received 8 stitches to his head from a cut. He also had
a concussion. The rear seat passenger received a broken leg and other
minor cuts and bruises. The root cause of this mishap occurred when they
planned the trip without allowing sufficient rest.

Now many of you could see the danger in each of these scenarios as they
unfolded and some did not. Ten second risk management can be used as a
tool to discover and then manage, minimize or even eliminate the risks
by taking control of the situation at hand. Lets take the familiar six
step risk wheel and break it into three sections.

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Finally, run steps 5 & 6:

**5. Implement Risk Controls:** Slow down to a safe speed.

**6. Supervise and Review:** Assess whether or not your new speed is
slow enough for the conditions and adjust as needed.

Now all that can be accomplished in less than ten seconds. Now lets see
what the consequence of driving too fast in foggy conditions can result
in. Look at this series of images taken from this accident simulation.

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height="1.4861111111111112in"}![](media/image4.png){width="2.0in"
height="1.4861111111111112in"}![](media/image5.png){width="2.0in"
height="1.4861111111111112in"}

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height="1.4861111111111112in"}![](media/image7.png){width="2.0in"
height="1.4861111111111112in"}![](media/image8.png){width="2.0in"
height="1.4861111111111112in"}

As you can see the driver did not adjust his speed for the conditions.
The posted speed limit on this road is 55 mph. The driver was doing 75
mph. In the diagram below you see an overhead view of the accident
scene.

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height="2.6951388888888888in"}

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The Department of Transportation has already measured the distances and
calculated the maximum safe speed for this road at 55 mph based on clear
dry road conditions. In effect they already completed the six steps for
you. All you need to do in those conditions is drive the speed limit or
less. In less than ideal conditions use ORM and make the speed
adjustment.

In this last example you see just how easy you can apply ORM to every
day life.

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The last time I needed firewood I ran the six step process in less than
ten seconds and...

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height="2.196527777777778in"}

Now that is ORM in its simplest form. I assessed the risks, assessed the
control measures and decided to eliminate the risk by ordering wood to
be delivered to my house. The reward for cutting my own wood was not
worth the danger.

ORM can be applied in every part of your life, work, recreation,
vacation, and your drive home from the office. Each activity can present
hazards you must react to. The ORM process can be used hundreds of times
a day to deal with all the dangers life presents you. Take control of
what you can and don't let "stuff happen" to you!