Safety Culture in the News

Safety Culture in the News

A Repeat Of Russia’s Carrier BBQ Could Happen Here

[Repeat Of Russia’s Carrier BBQ Could Happen Here] www.forbes.com/sites/cra…

A fatal shipyard fire has ravaged Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov, an obsolete ship whose many troubles are regularly mocked by naval observers. Taking pleasure in a rival’s pain is a natural thing, but this latest Russian safety debacle should be a wake-up call for America’s busy naval shipyards.

It is far easier for American observers to dismiss the Admiral Kuznetsov fire as a Russian “thing”—just another consequence of Russia’s dysfunctional safety culture. But America’s shipyard safety record isn’t something to gloat over. Back in 2012, America lost a far more valuable asset, the multi-billion dollar attack submarine USS Miami (SSN 755), because a shipyard worker, eager to leave work early, set the sub on fire.

In the U.S., things are getting worse. This year, after a spate of shipyard fires and avoidable shipyard accidents, America’s naval community needs to wake up to the fact that the Navy is primed to be the next victim of a shipyard catastrophe.