Operational Risk Management (ORM) & Safety
OPERATIONAL RISK MANAGEMENT (ORM)
Operational Risk Management
OPNAVINST 3500.39 (series), Operational Risk Management (ORM) is the guiding Navy instruction for implementing the ORM program. The naval vision is to develop an environment in which every individual (officer, enlisted and civilian) is trained and motivated to personally manage risk in everything they do on and off duty, both in peacetime and during conflict, thus enabling successful completion of all operations or activities with the minimum amount of risk.
Commands have a number of responsibilities relative to ORM, including designating the Executive Officer as the ORM Program Manager to oversee command ORM training and implementation and ensuring that at a minimum one officer and one senior enlisted are qualified as ORM instructors.
The most common idea of what ORM is revolves around a simple five-step process that is most frequently used in planning. These five steps are:
Identify hazards
Assess the hazards
Make risk decisions
Implement controls
Supervise and watch for change
Another level of ORM is Time Critical Risk Management which involves a quick, committed-to-memory process and a set of skills that allow our people to manage risk when in the execution of a plan or event. The standard for the Navy is being developed, however it might be thought of in simple terms such as:
What can go wrong or is changing
How can I keep it from effecting the mission without hurting me
Act to correct the situation
Telling the right people if you are unable to take the right action
TRAINING TIME OUT POLICY
a. In any training situation when a student or instructor
expresses concern for personal safety or a need exists to clarify
procedures or requirements, the student or instructor calls a
"training time out" (TTO). Instructors are responsible for
maintaining situational awareness and shall remain alert to signs
of student panic, fear, extreme exhaustion, or lack of
confidence, that may impair safe completion of the training
evolution, and shall immediately cease training when the
instructor considers this action appropriate.
Information concerning the TTO and action taken by
the instructor shall be provided.
b. If a student asks for a TTO, that does not necessarily mean
the training event must be terminated. Following a TTO, the
training situation shall be examined and additional explanation
and instruction will be provided as necessary to allow safe
resumption of training. The instructor will determine if the
event can be completed after the TTO.
c. When a student refuses to participate in training after
additional instruction is provided, and the safety concern is
resolved, or when excessive use of TTO occurs, he/she is removed
from training (i.e., incomplete the event) for counseling
or administrative processing, including removal from training.
d. Only verbal TTO signals will be used for aircraft flight
events. TTO signals other than verbal shall be appropriate to
the training environment and clearly indicated in the curriculum,
Lesson Topic Guides and Student Guides. Prior to commencing any
"high risk" evolution the instructor will detail the TTO
procedures with emphasis on evolution specific verbal (and
nonverbal signals when appropriate) as part of the safety portion
of the briefing of the training.