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PHONETIC ALPHABET/

SINGLE NUMBERS

What?

The phonetic alphabet specifies a word for each letter of the English alphabet. For example when saying “Breaker 1B-115”, you would instead say, “Breaker 1 Bravo, one, one, five” because the “B” could sound like a “P”. Likewise, “115” could sound like “150” in a noisy or challenging environment, such as when communicating by phone or radio.

Why?

To reduce the risk of mis-hearing letters which could lead to a significant error. For example, when speaking, "B" could sound like "C" or "D" - but “Bravo”, “Charlie” or “Delta” are more easily distinguished.

How?

1 Minute 4 Safety

Source: NATO Phonetic Alphabet

Symbol	Code word	Symbol	Code word	Symbol	Code word	Symbol	Code word
A	Alpha	H	Hotel	N	November	U	Uniform
B	Bravo	I	India	O	Oscar	V	Victor
C	Charlie	J	Juliet	P	Papa	W	Whiskey
D	Delta	K	Kilo	Q	Quebec	X	X-ray
E	Echo	L	Lima	R	Romeo	Y	Yankee
F	Foxtrot	M	Mike	S	Sierra	Z	Zulu
G	Golf			T	Tango

WHAT: The phonetic alphabet specifies a word for each letter of the English alphabet. The notion of “single numbers” implies when numbers are communicated, it will be one single number at a time, not using hundreds or thousands, for example.

WHERE: Whenever communicating important information – could be on the radio, phone, or over a shoulder (especially in noisy environments).

WHEN: When communicating operational information important to safety.

WHY: Several letters and numbers in the English language sound alike and can be confused in stressful or noisy situations. The phonetic alphabet specifies a word for each letter of the English alphabet. By using a word for each letter there is less chance that the person listening will confuse the letters.

HOW: When the only distinguishing difference between two component labels is a single letter, then the phonetic alphabet form of the letter should be substituted for the distinguishing character. For example, 2UL-18L and 2UL-18F would be stated “two U L eighteen LIMA” and “two U L eighteen FOXTROT.” Using single numbers helps in situations like when trying to communicate fifteen (15) – this could sound like “fifty” (50), so we would say one-five “1” – “5”, instead of “fifteen”.