Aviation Safety Culture Components

PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS
INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Aircraft Maintenance Technology Department
Module 2 (Finals): SAFETY CULTURE
AMT 2105 - AVIATION SAFETY
Module 2
SAFETY CULTURE
1
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Ref. no Page

Safety Culture 5
Value of Safety Culture 1&2 5
Safety Culture Maturity 6
Safety cultural components 7
Honesty Clause 10
Activity 11
2
TABLE OF REFERENCES
References No.
ICAO Doc 9859 Safety Management Manual –
AEX.ru. (2013) Available from: https://www.aex.ru > 1
files
Safety Management Manual (SMM) – ICAO. (2008)
2
Available from: https://www.icao.in > safety
TIMEFRAME:
You should be able to complete this module including all the self-assessments, research works,
assignments, and other performance tasks within 3 hours.
3
Learning Outcomes
Course Learning Outcomes [CLO]

CLO 1. Understand the importance Module Learning Outcomes [MLO]
of safety culture and its components.
CLO 2. Cooperate and comply with Topic Learning Outcomes
the entire task given during activities MLO 1. Determine the importance of [TLO]
to be able the students safety culture in an organization.
MLO 2. Discuss the safety cultural TLO 1. Discuss the importance of
to understand the real life setting in safety culture in the aviation industry.
aviation industry components and the interaction
between them to safety TLO 2. Identify the 3 most influential
CLO 3. Integrate and discuss management. safety cultural components and their
professional, ethical and social differences.
responsibilities that come with the
aviation industry.
Introduction
Culture is characterized by the beliefs, values, biases and their resultant behavior that are shared among
members of a society, group or organization. An understanding of these cultural components, and the
interactions among them, is important to safety management. Among the most influential cultural
components are organizational, professional, and national. A reporting culture is key component of these
different cultures. The mix of cultural components may vary greatly among organizations and can
negatively influence effective hazard reporting, collaborative root cause analysis, and acceptable risk
mitigation. Continuous improvement in safety performance is possible when safety becomes a value
within an organization as well as a priority at the national or professional level.
A healthy safety culture actively seeks improvements, vigilantly remains aware of hazards, and utilizes
systems and tools for continuous monitoring, analysis, and investigation. It must exist in State aviation
organizations as well as in product and service provider organizations. Other foundations of a healthy
safety culture include a shared commitment by personnel and management to personal safety
responsibilities, confidence in the safety system, and a documented set of rules and policies. The ultimate
responsibility for the establishment and adherence to sound safety practices rests with the management
of the organization.
In this module, covers guidance on what a safety culture is and how a positive safety culture can be
promoted. Safety culture is an expression of how safety is perceived, valued and prioritized by
management and employees in an organization as well as the relationship between States and service
providers.
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SAFETY CULTURE
A broad definition of safety culture is “Safety culture is the set of enduring values, behaviors and attitudes
regarding safety issues, shared by every member at every level of an organization”. It refers to the extent
to which every individual and every part of the organization is:
▪ aware of the safety risks and known hazards induced by its activities;
▪ continuously behaving to preserve and enhance safety;
▪ willing and able to adapt when facing safety issues;
▪ willing to communicate safety issues; and
▪ consistently evaluating safety related behaviors throughout the organization
Value of safety culture
Safety culture is one of those nebulous things, like safety management. You cannot see it or touch it.
You can only see evidence or absence of its existence. A safety culture is not something you get or buy;
it develops over time and has to be maintained – like your professional reputation. A positive safety
culture relies on a high degree of trust and respect between personnel and management and must
therefore be created and supported at the senior management level. Like trust, positive safety culture
takes time and effort to establish and can be easily lost.
Safety culture has a direct impact on safety performance. If someone believes that safety is not really
important to themselves, the service provider or State, even temporarily, then workarounds, cutting
corners, or making unsafe decisions or judgements may well be the result, especially when safety risk is
perceived as low and there is no obvious danger. If management do not treat individuals who identify
hazards and report adverse events in a consistently fair and just way, those individuals are unlikely to be
willing to communicate safety issues or to work with management to effectively manage their safety risks.
Figure 1 includes questions which

can help organizations determine
whether values, behaviors and
attitudes regarding safety are
shared by every member of every
level of the organization
Figure 1. Safety Culture Values and Behaviors
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Safety Culture Maturity
Various stages of maturity have been used to describe the development of an increasingly positive safety
culture. While many maturity models are available, Figure 2 presents a five-level safety culture maturity
model.
Figure 2. Safety culture maturity model
Pathological (also known as emerging). In a pathological safety culture, safety is defined in terms of
technical and procedural solutions and compliance with regulations and is not seen as a key business
risk. There is a “who cares” approach to safety with many accidents seen as either “not going to happen
to them” or as an unavoidable part of the job. Most frontline staff are uninterested in safety and may only
use safety as the basis for other arguments (a change in shift patterns).
Reactive (also known as managing). In a reactive safety culture, safety is generally regarded as a
burden that is imposed from Authorities, regulations or the general public. Safety is taken into account to
meet the requirements imposed by the regulations. Action is taken only to satisfy the law, or after a safety
occurrence, in which case it mainly consists of identifying and punishing the directly responsible
person(s). Only in case of severe safety occurrences, it becomes a topic of communication and measures
are taken to prevent recurrence. There is only a willingness to take action against an existing safety risk
when it is too late. Behavior is barely influenced by safety considerations. Unsafe behavior to the benefit
of other interests is allowed.
Calculative (also known as involving). In a calculative safety culture, safety is taken into account in
management’s decision making, but in itself safety is not a core value. Action is only taken after a safety
occurrence, and next to identifying directly responsible person(s), it also aims at investigating the
organizational processes that might have played a role. A safety reporting system is installed to meet
legal requirements, and is only used for gathering information in the aftermath of safety problems. There
6
is a general awareness of the safety risks induced by its operations, and the organization is willing to take
measures if these become too large. There are situations in which unsafe behavior in the benefit of other
interests is allowed, but in general there is a mutual expectation of safe behavior.
Proactive (also known as cooperating). In a proactive safety culture, safety is considered as a priority.
Safety is a core value of the organization and plays an important role in decision making at management
level as well as in day-to-day operations. The safety reporting system is not only used for detecting severe
safety issues, but also for issues with less or no impact on safety. Safety reports only have consequences
for the direct responsible(s) if there appear to be recklessness or negligence. The operations are regularly
assessed on their level of safety, and safety measures are thoroughly evaluated after implementation.
After a safety occurrence, the first concern of management is to prevent recurrence. Consideration is
given not only to the individual but also to organizational factors. There is a general awareness of the
safety risks induced by the operation, and action is taken to reduce them as much as possible.
Generative (also known as continually improving). In a generative safety culture organizations set
high standards and attempt to exceed them. They use failure to improve, not to blame. Management
knows what is really going on, because the workforce tells them. People are trying to be as informed as
possible, because it prepares them for the unexpected. This state of "chronic unease" reflects a belief
that despite all efforts, errors will occur and those even minor problems can quickly escalate into system-
threatening failures. An organization at the generative level will tend to be characterized by a need to
seek further improvement even in the absence of incidents. Safety is not driven by numbers, but by a
core value that safety is an integral part of the operation. Safety improvement is seen as an investment,
not a cost. Typically, employees will feel comfortable and safe in airing issues and will have an almost
absolute confidence and trust in their management team.
Safety Cultural Components
Organizational culture refers to the characteristics and safety perceptions among members interacting
within a particular entity. Organizational value systems include prioritization or balancing policies covering
areas such as productivity vs. quality, safety vs. efficiency, financial vs. technical, professional vs.
academic, enforcement vs. corrective action, etc.
The greatest impact for the creation and maintenance of an effective, self-sustaining culture for the
management of safety is at the organizational level. The organization is a major determinant of the
behavior in which persons will engage while performing management or operational activities during the
delivery or oversight of aviation activities. Organizational culture sets the boundaries for accepted
executive and operational performance by establishing the norms and limits. Thus, organizational culture
provides a cornerstone for managerial and employee decision-making.
Organizational culture has the potential to affect the following:
a) Interactions between senior and junior members of a group;

b) Interactions between industry and regulatory authority personnel;
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c) the degree to which information is shared internally and with the regulatory authorities
d) the prevalence of teamwork in the regulatory authority or industry organization;
e) reactions of personnel under demanding operational conditions;
f) acceptance and utilization of particular technologies; and
g) the tendency to take punitive measures in reaction to operational errors within a product or service
provider or by the regulatory authorities
Organization culture is also affected by factors such as:

a) business policies and procedures;
b) supervisory behavior and practices;
c) safety improvement goals as well as minimum tolerance levels;
d) management attitude toward quality or safety issues;
e) employee training and motivation;
f) the relationship between the regulatory authorities and product and service providers and
g) work life balance policies.
The way in which management deals with day-to-day safety issues is also fundamental to improving
organizational culture. Collaborative interaction between front-line personnel with their safety and quality
counterparts as well as the representatives of the regulatory authority is indicative of a positive
organizational culture. This relationship should be characterized by professional courtesy, while
maintaining respective roles as necessary to ensure objectivity or accountability.
An effective way to promote safe operations is to ensure that an organization has developed an
environment where all staff feel responsible for safety. This becomes evident when staff consider the
impact of safety on everything they do, that they report all hazards, errors and threats, and that they
support the identification and management of all their associated risks. In addition, management must
build an environment in which personnel are aware of safety risks, given sufficient systems to protect
themselves, and are assured the protection for their divulgence of safety information through the safety
reporting system. An effective safety culture serves as a method to synchronize diverse national and
professional cultures within the context of the organization.
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Professional culture differentiates the characteristics of particular professional groups (i.e. the
characteristic behaviors of pilot’s vis-à-vis that of air traffic controllers, civil aviation authority personnel
or maintenance engineers). Through personnel selection, education, training, on-the-job experience and
peer pressure, etc., professionals tend to adopt the value system and develop 23 behavior patterns
consistent with their peers or predecessors. An effective professional culture reflects the ability of
professional groups to differentiate safety performance issues from contractual or industrial issues. A
healthy professional culture may be characterized as the ability for both all professional groups within the
organization to collaboratively address safety performance issues.
National culture differentiates the characteristics of particular nations, including the role of the individual
within society, the manner in which authority is distributed, its national priorities with respect to resources,
accountabilities, morality, objectives and different legal systems. From a safety management perspective,
the national culture plays a large part in determining the nature and scope of regulatory enforcement
policies including the relationship between regulatory authority personnel and industry personnel, and
the extent to which safety-related information is protected.
National culture forms an intrinsic component of personal beliefs that inherently shapes individuals ‘safety
perspectives prior to their membership within an organization. Organizational culture may therefore be
significantly affected by the national culture(s) present among the members of its workforce.
Managers should closely assess and consider differences in their personnel’s ‘national cultures when
applying a safety management program. For instance, safety risk perceptions can greatly differentiate
between different national cultures. Safety-related aspects, including communication and leadership
styles, as well as the interaction between supervisors and subordinates, may need to be to accommodate
a multicultural workforce.
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Honesty Clause
My signature below constitutes my pledge that all of the writing is my own work, with the exception of
those portions which are properly documented.
________________________ _____________________
Students Name and Signature Parent/Guardian Signature
Activity
1. Differentiate the three cultural components of safety culture? (You have 10 minutes to complete this
task.)
2. How to achieve a positive safety culture in an organization? (You have 25 minutes to complete this
task.)
10
ESSAY RUBRIC
CRITERIA INADEQUATE ADEQUATE ABOVE AVERAGE EXEMPLARY SCORE

(Below Standard) (Meets Standard) (Exceeds Standard) (Far Exceeds
65%-74% 75%-84% 85%-92% Standard)
93%-100%
Organization Writing lacks logical Writing is coherent and Writing is coherent Writing shows
organization. It logically organized. and logically high degree of
shows some Some points remain organized with attention to
coherence but ideas misplaced and stray transitions used logic and
lack unity. Serious from the topic. between ideas and reasoning of
errors. paragraphs to create points. Unity
Transitions evident but coherence. Overall clearly leads the
not used throughout unity of ideas is reader to the
essay. present. conclusion and
stirs thought
regarding the
topic.
Level of Content Shows some thinking Content indicates Content indicates Content
and reasoning but thinking and reasoning original thinking and indicates
most ideas are applied with original develops ideas with synthesis of
underdeveloped and thought on a few ideas. sufficient and firm ideas, in-depth
unoriginal. evidence. analysis and
evidences
original thought
and support for
the topic.
Development Main points lack Main points are present Main points well Main points
detailed development. with limited detail and developed with well developed
Ideas are vague with development. Some quality supporting with high
little evidence of critical thinking is details and quantity. quality and
critical thinking. present. Critical thinking is quantity
weaved into points. support. Reveals
high degree of
critical thinking.
Grammar & Spelling, punctuation, Most spelling, Essay has few Essay is free of
and grammatical punctuation, and spelling, punctuation, distracting
Mechanics errors create grammar are correct and grammatical spelling,
distraction, making allowing reader to errors allowing reader punctuation, and
reading difficult; progress the essay. to follow ideas grammatical
fragments, comma Some errors remain. clearly. Very few errors; absent of
splices, run-ons fragments or run-ons. fragments,
evident. Errors are comma splices,
frequent. and run-ons.
GRADE
(score/4)
11

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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

AMT 2105 - AVIATION SAFETY

Title Ref. no Page

Course Learning Outcomes [CLO]

Value of safety culture

Figure 1 includes questions which

Figure 1. Safety Culture Values and Behaviors

Safety Culture Maturity

Figure 2. Safety culture maturity model

Safety Cultural Components

Organizational culture has the potential to affect the following:

a) Interactions between senior and junior members of a group;

Organization culture is also affected by factors such as:

Students Name and Signature Parent/Guardian Signature

CRITERIA INADEQUATE ADEQUATE ABOVE AVERAGE EXEMPLARY SCORE

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