Air Force goes from ORM to RM Published June 12, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Janelle Patiño 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Team Fairchild introduced major changes to the Air Force Operational Risk Management Program, February 2014, dropping the "O" from ORM. The Air Force RM is a decision-making process to systematically evaluate possible courses of action, identify risks and benefits and determine the best course of action for any given situation. RM now applies to both on- and off-duty. "The reason the Air Force changed the program was to come in line with what other services are doing; we basically adopted the U.S. Army's model of RM to make it a total force program," said Bryan Bailey, a 92nd Air Refueling Wing ground safety technician. "We want to have everything the same across the board." The Air Force Instruction governing risk management, now AFI 90-802, has been rewritten in order to reflect the changes. One of the adjustments made to the program is the conversion of the six-step process into a five-step process. The new five-step process is as follows: identifying the hazards, assess the hazards, develop controls and make decisions, implement controls and supervise and evaluate. "The change made it a simpler and less time consuming process for Airmen," said Bailey. "It merged the analysis of risk and the making of control decisions into one step to align with other branches and improve the program while conserving both time and resources." Also, under the current risk management directives, there are no more requirements for unit level RM instructors. In addition, new or incoming and currently assigned personnel must complete a mandatory training called the Air Force Fundamentals training. "Although, the wing commander can appoint additional RM instructors as he or she determines necessary," he said. "Those who have not completed the training must complete it as soon as practical, but no later than 120 days of training discrepancy notification." According to Bailey, one of the goals is to inform Airmen that RM applies not just on-duty, but also off-duty; it applies wherever and whenever. "It is important to stay safe on- and off-duty by identifying the risks and deciding if it's a good path to take, and people are already doing this without realizing it," Bailey said. "We assume some risk in everything we do on- and off-duty and by doing so, we are reducing those risks to an acceptable level and that's really what it's all about." For more information, visit the Air Force Safety website at www.afsec.af.mil or call the safety office at (509) 247-4737.