Airline security is a hot topic and it reminded me about my experiences flying to Israel earlier this year. Have you ever flown into or out of Israel?  I flew in and out of Tel Aviv this past year and the differences between airline security in the USA and Israel were like night and day in so many ways.

Have you heard of Isaac Yeffet?

For those of you who do not know, Isaac Yeffet is the former head of security for El Al of Israel.  In an interview I listened to last night, Yeffet said…”technology in general can never replace a qualified and well-trained human being.”  Yeffet has been saying this over and over, but not sure anyone is listening?

Yeffet’s comments are based on successful security efforts and lessons learned from heading up El Al’s security in Israel.  El Al’s security personnel are highly trained in proactively reading people’s physical actions as indicators of behavior and asking questions to see how passengers respond.

When I travel, I am constantly observing security and I really appreciate proactive security when I see it. And while I was standing in line at the Tel Aviv airport, I experienced proactive security by qualified and well-trained individuals.  While standing in line, we were approached by two individuals that observed us as they asked us questions about our stay and where we were heading and how long we had been in Israel, what we had in our carry-on bags and etc.

After going through airline security in Tel Aviv, I can tell you I have never felt more secure getting on an airplane.

These security individuals in Israel knew what they were doing and they were prepared because of situational awareness – they knew what to look for to identify a risk and knew what to do once they identified a risk.  You could easily tell these security individuals did not just go through some general training program on how to herd people through a security line.  You could also tell that these individuals were focused, observant and proactive, not just getting people through a check point as quickly as possible and reacting to what technology might uncover.

So here is a question for organizational leaders…if qualified and well-trained human beings can prevent terrorist incidents on flights in and out of a target like Israel (Israel had their own security personnel in USA too), do you think qualified and well-trained human beings could help prevent:

  • Bullying
  • Suicides and Bullicides
  • Deliberate Indifference Lawsuits
  • Information Security Breaches
  • Compliance Failures
  • Workplace Violence Incidents
  • And other incidents?

 

There is no doubt in my mind that individuals with situational awareness could prevent these and many other types of incidents…but not until organizational leaders realize general training methodologies are not working.   Stay tuned for more to come…