Professional Documents
Culture Documents
DECEMBER 1994
FLIGHT SAFET’
D s I G E T
ICARUS Committee
Responsibilityfor aviation safetybegins at the very top of an Managementmust put safetyinto perspective,and must make
airline company. History has demonstrattxlrepeatedly that rationaldecisionsaboutwheresafetycanhelpmeettheobjectives
withoutthe completecommitmentof the highestmanagement of the organization.Fmm an organizationalperspective,safety
levels within a company, operational safety margins are is a method of conservingall forms of resources,including
seriously eroded. This does not suggest that a companywill controlling costs. Safety allowsthe organizationto pursue its
havean acciden~but it does suggestthat the risk of having an productionobjectiveswithoutharmto humanlife or damageto
accidentis high — the laws of probabilitywill prevail. equipment. Safety helps managementachieveobjectiveswith
the leastrisk.
Management has great leverage in affecting operational
safety within a company.Through its attitudes and actions, Although risk in aviation cannot be eliminated, risk can be
managementinfluences the attitudes and actions of all others controlled successfully through programs to identify and
wit.ldna company: Management defines the safety culture correct safety deficiencies before an accident occurs. Such
of an organization. This safety culture extends all the way risk managementprogramsareessentialtoolsformanagement
to the maintenance shop floor, to the ramp, to the cabin and to achieve acceptable levels of safety while pursuing the
to the cockpit. Furthermore, the public and government production goals of the organization.
authorities are increasingly recognizing management’srole
in air safety by holding management accountable for a The airline has to allocate resources to two distinct but
serious incident or acciden~ this accountability is magnified interrelatedobjectives:thecompany’sprimaryproductiongoals
many-fold if a company suffers several such incidents or and safety. In the long term, these are clearly compatible
accidents during the course of a few years. objectives,but becauseresourcesare finite,thereare on many
occasions short-termconflictsof interes~Resourcesallocated
The followinginformationis designedto provide insight into to the pursuit of production objectivescould diminish those
the costs, causesand preventionof aviationaccidents— to be availablefor safetyand viceversa.Whenfacingthis dilemma,
a prxtical guide for management,not a theoreticaltreatise. it maybe tempting to givepriority to productionmanagement
over safety or risk management. Although a perfectly
Safety Fits into Production Objectives understan&ble reaction, it is ill-advisedand it contributesto
further safety deficiencies tha~ in turn, will have long-term
Accidents and incidents are preventable through effective adverse economic consequences.
management doingso is cost-effective.Anairlineis formedto
achieve practical objectives. Although frequently so stated, 1. Safetyis of majorconcernto the aviationindustryand to the
safety is noh in fac~ the primary objective. The airline’s public.Whencomparedwithothertransportationindustries—
objectivesare related to production: transportingpassengers maritime, rail or road transportation— the aviationindustry
or transportinggoods and producing profits. Safety fits into enjoys a superior safety record. Safety consciousnesswithin
theobjectives,but ina supportingrolextoachievetheproduction the industryandtheresourcesthataviationorganizationsdevote
objectiveswithout harm to human lifeor damageto property. to safety are amongthe reasonsforthissword,
●
Operational personneL Newmethodsof accidentpreventionemphasizelookingat the
total picture and taking into account accident prevention
Withinany civil aviation system, there are at least four major strategiesin all industrialactivities.
institutionsto which these personnel might report
Another objective is to develop a perspective that views
o Civil aviation administration; safety, or risk management, in the context of the primary
productiongoalsof civilaviationorganizations.Becauserisk
● Safety/accidentinvestigationagencjq managementactivities,and the failureto managerisk, involve
the expenditure of resources, it is critical that such a
● OperatonXand, perspectivebe developed.
Safety programs and safety feedback systems. Such R~k management. Thepurposeof internalfeedbackandtrend
programs should include not only flight safety, but also monitoring programs is to allow managersto assess the risks
maintenancesafety,ramp safety,etc. involvedin the operationsand to determinelogicalapproaches
to counteract them. There will always be risks in aviation
Internal feedback and trend monitoring systems. If theonly operations.Some risks canbe accepte@some— butnotail —
feedbackcomes from the company’s accident statistics,the canbeeliminatd;andothtm
cartIx?reduced
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