Transportation Safety in 5 Major Nations

Transportation DISASTER RECOVERY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CONTINUITY The governments of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States all have some form of transportation safety board for disaster response. Their duties are sometimes gathered under one agency and sometimes divided among more than one agency. However, their missions are all focused on transportation security and not on assigning blame to people or groups for accident.

Transportation Safety Boards Australia Australia has the Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB), which is an independent statutory agency run by a Commission and kept apart from regulators, policy makers and service providers for transportation. It is designed to increase safety and public confidence transportation by: autonomous examination -- both in Australia and abroad - of accidents and safety incidents; recording, examining and researching safety information; and encouraging safety consciousness, information and behavior (Australian Government, 2016). The ATSB investigates aviation accidents, events and insufficiencies.

The agency follows the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act) and investigates to improve safety, not to place blame, make regulations or manage safety. The ATSB follows international guidelines for investigations, according to Annex 13 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, including: required reporting of incidences that are Immediately Reportable Matters and Routine Reportable Matters. These reports tell the ATSB whether it should investigate further. The ATSB also follows event trends that show a possibility for accidents.

If the ATSB investigates, it issues findings and significant factors to improve conditions and prevent future accidents (Australian Government, 2016). The ATSB is also involved in Marine safety, involving about 75% of all imports/exports, and uses a Marine Safety Investigation team to maintain and enhance marine transport safety. The Marine Safety Investigation team investigates any accidents, incidents or trends to improve conditions; not to place blame.

Its investigations are according to the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) Convention and the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (Australian Government, 2016). The ATSB also covers rail safety but has limited resources, so it does not always go to the scene of an accident, or have a thorough investigation or issue an exhaustive report. As in the cases of Aviation and Marine situations, the ATSB is interested in finding causes and improving conditions; not in placing blame on anyone (Australian Government, 2016). b.

Canada Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) was created by the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board Act of 1990. It has 5 board members and 220 workers who are in regional offices to respond across Canada (Canadian Government, 2016). It handles aviation by investigating accidents and safety events around the globe, as long as they involve someone who has a Canadian aviation document. The TSB covers about 250 aviation accidents and 800 incidents in Canada, as well as 200 international events, every year.

It investigators are aviation experts: pilots; engineers; and air traffic controllers, who also observe safety developments and communicate about safety matters (Canadian Government, 2016). The TSB also covers Marine transportation in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans and the Great Lakes, investigating accidents and safety events (Canadian Government, 2016). Canada's rail system is also covered by the TSB and its investigations of rail accidents and incidents covers decision-making, risk administration, failure of mechanisms, management, metallurgy and train track systems (Canadian Government, 2016). c.

New Zealand New Zealand's transportation safety board work is handled by two agencies that have some overlapping work. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand investigates aviation accidents and incidents to find causes and enhance prevention, relying on reports from every professional involved in every phase of aviation, rail and marine accidents and incidents, and also road accidents if they affect rail safety.

When one of those professionals reports an accident or incident, CAA works with him/her to discern what happened and the (Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand, 2016). In addition to the CAA, New Zealand has the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), which investigates to find causes and develop measures for prevention without placing blame (Transport Accident Investigation Commission, 2016). d.

United Kingdom The United Kingdom's transportation safety board work is divided between two agencies: the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) investigates civil accidents and incidents; the Military Aviation Authority (MAA) investigates military accidents and incidents. Both agencies work within the United Kingdom but also around the world (United Kingdom Government, 2016). These two agencies are also concerned with regulating transportation rather than just investigating and educating about safety issues (United Kingdom Government, 2016).

Individuals, organizations or other agencies can submit reports about accidents, incidents or safety problems that are then investigated by the AAIB and/or the MAA, which seek to find causes and improve safety, rather than to place blame on anyone. e. United States The United States' transportation board is the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It is an independent board and has probably the most detailed procedures for investigating accidents, incidents and unsafe conditions.

Its investigations are run by "Go Teams" of professionals who are alerted by reports from individuals, organizations or other agencies, or by actual accidents. The "Go Team" consists of any required experts, depending on whether the issue involves aviation, maritime, rail or road, and can be a small team or a very large team of experts. "Go Teams" investigate accidents on U.S. territory or in international waters; other accidents/incidents/issues must be investigated by the applicable government, usually with NTSB assistance.

The NTSB investigations 2,000 aviation accidents/incidents and about 500 accidents/incidents involving rail, marine, highway and pipeline. After an investigation is completed, the NTSB issues safety recommendations, holds any necessary public hearings and issues a final report. The agency is primarily concerned with finding causes and improving conditions rather than placing blame (United States of America Government, 2016). In the case of aviation, the NTSB is also assisted by the Office of Accident Investigation and Prevention (OAIP), with is part of the Federal Aviation Administration (United States of America Government, 2016). 3.

Conclusion The countries of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States all have agencies specifically dedicated to safety issues, including investigating accidents, incidents and unsafe tendencies that could lead to accidents. In some of the countries, the transportation safety agency is a single agency and in other countries, its duties are split between two agencies. In that respect, the agencies of some of these countries are different.

However, the major purpose of these agencies, whether they are dealing with aviation, marine or rail issues, is to find causes and improve safety. None of these agencies is interested in blaming any individual,.