Saturday, April 08, 2006

Kennedy Space Center Accidents: Rhythm Method Fails Again.

NASA officials can't figure out why they've been having so many accidents.
Over the past three months, Kennedy Space Center workers have tripped, dropped things, banged into sensitive equipment, and started fires in a string of accidents that have left one person dead.

The space agency has launched investigations into three accidents -- the death of a worker who fell off a roof, the bumping of space shuttle Discovery's robotic arm by a platform, and damage last week to an instrument that supplies power to the orbiters.

But since the beginning of the year, there have been 20 other occasions in which a worker was injured or equipment was damaged in excess of $25,000.

There were 14 incidents during the same time period last year.

"There's enough going on that we're very, very concerned," said Bill Parsons, deputy director of Kennedy Space Center.

One explanation for the accidents may be that workers have been out of the rhythm of preparing for shuttle launches, since there has been one liftoff since the Columbia disaster in early 2003, Parsons said.
"Hmm," says Confined Space reader and safety consultant Dave Smith, "Guess the rhythm method of hazard control is about as effective as the rhythm method of birth control."