Management perspective on aviation safety

Management Perspective on Aviaton Safety

Aviation Safety Management

However, this topic narrows substantially when one considers it from a management perspective. Management has a number of diverse concerns that it must consider in regards to aviation safety. For the most part, these safety issues are typically balanced out with issues related to cost and customer satisfaction. Although safety should always be the principle point of concern, management oftentimes has to temper this with practical considerations related to finances regarding time and money spent. Management can help to mitigate the severity of financial constraints, however, by involving as many people as possible in the safety and quality assurance process via a team-based approach. Additionally, there are certain Safety Management System (SMS) programs that can help to stratify different facets of safety management. Finally, it is important for management to make aviation safety a continuous process which is increasingly refined and improved.

One of the most crucial aspects of aviation safety from a management level perspective is to actively involve everyone in ensuring that safety is the top priority. From a bottom up approach -- beginning with the aircraft mechanics and technicians (Grosenick, 2002) -- such involvement is typically taken for granted. Yet a truly beneficial approach to aviation safety involves everyone within an aircraft organization, including those who do not normally consider themselves involved with safety issues. According to Waikeer and Nichols

"Safety is no accident." It is not coincidence that this slogan appears in FAA literature, correspondence and advisory circulars. It is a frequent reminder to all of us that reliability and safety in aviation is a team effort and that all individuals are responsible for doing their part towards the maintenance of a safe flying environment (Waiker and Nichols, 1997, p. 87).

One of the principle ways that management can contribute to promoting an atmosphere in which there is a team effort to raise awareness for safety issues is by fostering a culture in which individuals make a habit of reporting safety concerns. Ideally, there should not be any negatives involved with reporting concerns; it is generally more advisable to suspect a concern that is unfounded rather than not to say anything and have a safety issue. From a management perspective then, personnel can take two routes to facilitating such a culture: the "Just Culture" route and the events reporting route (Conyers, 2013). The former of these involves encouraging and allowing everyone in involved with the aviation process to freely state their opinions and observations about safety issues. The latter actually implements a policy in which each employee -- regardless of how distant his or her job appears to be from safety concerns, is actually required to make a monthly report regarding safety. According to Conyers, all observations are potentially valuable ones.

Although the assumption may be that some people, e.g., schedulers, don't have as much opportunity to witness unsafe acts or conditions, the reports aren't limited to aviation events. Observations made on the highway, in the playground, or in the supermarket are just as valid as aviation oriented events (Conyers, 2013).

Either approach, encouraging unsolicited feedback from employees or that in the form of a formal report is essential for heightening safety awareness and making it the top concern for an aviation facility.