Risk Management. Managing Risks on a Spacewalk

Before my fourth spacewalk I asked the specialists so many small questions that after the flight one of them said, “He must have been really worried.” And out on the spacewalk an ordinary clip—a spring-gate hook I had turned over in my hands three hundred times—jammed. You sit there in the airlock and understand: out there nothing is a small thing. There are two of you outside, the whole station spent two weeks preparing for the spacewalk, and there will be no second attempt. This lecture is about decisions where the price of a mistake is as high as it gets: how safety is built before an operation begins, by what criteria risk is accepted, and why a team is stronger than any protective system.

Storytelling. The lecture’s structure follows the principle: Problem identification – Story from Alexander’s professional experience or that of his colleagues – Situation analysis – Conclusions. Includes a PowerPoint presentation with photos and videos and a dialogue with the audience.

The lecture "Risk Management. Managing Risks on a Spacewalk" is of interest to:

1. managers responsible for process safety;
2. risk management specialists;
3. managers of complex technical projects;
4. heads of production units;
5. quality control specialists;
6. professionals for whom the cost of error is very high.

1. Risk should be managed competently, not avoided.
2. Security is created before the operation begins.
3. Good communication is the key factor in risk management.
4. The team is stronger than any security system.

INTRODUCTION (offline presentation): a nine-minute video about Alexander’s space flights, with his voice comments, to recreate the image of a manned space flight.

THE PRICE OF RISK IN SPACE:

1. the first spacewalk in history: Alexey Leonov;
2. analysis of emergency situations:
3. reasons (lack of opportunity to practice responsible stages of work);
4. factors for success of EVA (careful preparation, high level of motivation and ability to take responsibility);
5. balance between the need to take risks and ensuring security (it is necessary to solve complex problems for growth and development, which means risk-taking);

RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN OUTER SPACE:

1. forecasting, modeling, skills training;
2. technical means of ensuring safety and redundancy;
3. protocols for actions in critical situations;
4. criteria for decision-making at different levels of risk.

HUMAN FACTOR IN RISK MANAGEMENT:

1. building effective communication in critical conditions (case studies: Sergey Korolev’s parting words to Alexey Leonov; Alexander’s analysis of his own spacewalks);
2. role of the team in ensuring safety (case studies: interaction with the crew commander during preparation for the EVA; emergency during Luca Parmitano’s EVA);
3. stress resistance development through increasing the tasks’ complexity (case study: Alexander's preparation for flight);
4. the importance of motivation in risk management (case studies: Alexander’s EVAs; an incident in the career of a four-time Olympic champion in competitive gymnastics);
5. working with emotional anchor — personal solution for emotional attachment to operations of particular importance.

1. learn space approaches to risk management;
2. learn the principles of building effective security systems;
3. gain a new perspective on the role of teamwork in risk management;
4. hear real stories of preventing critical situations in space.

45–60 minutes