D6Psych-Fitness-28 🙏 Pilots and surgeons accept fitness checks
Teaser
Day 6 of 28, Pilots and surgeons accept fitness checks: April 1912. Wireless received at least seven ice warnings. Captain Smith did not slow. The question is whether we check it.
TLDR
April 1912.
The Titanic.
Captain Smith had four decades at sea and over 25 years in command. Wireless received at least seven ice warnings that day. He did not slow, and the ship held near full speed into known ice waters, under subtle pressure to make a fast, marketable crossing.
There was no system to check his fitness for the conditions he faced. Experience alone did not prevent the disaster.
In the decades since, high-stakes fields like aviation and medicine have layered formal fitness for duty and competency checks on top of experience.
Medical exams, recurrent tests, and error-reporting systems exist because a single decision can kill dozens. Cabinet decisions affect millions.
The same human hardware sits in every chair. The question is whether we check it.
Context
We all run on the same human hardware. Let’s build the support and checks to match the pressure of the job.
Sign the petition: 👉 Petition (EN9806): Stronger Checks and Balances: Psychological Fitness for Australia’s Top Leaders https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN9806