Implement Safety Policy At All Levels

Implement Safety Policy At All Levels

Another great post from CatlinaNJB!

In some countries drivers are expected to drive on the right side of the road, while other places the expectation is to drive on the left side. At times a country may change this practice and change from driving on one side of the road over to the other side. Several years ago when one country changed from driving on the left side to the right side it was said that for a smooth transition they would first begin with trucks and busses to drive on the right side, and a month later cars would change over to right hand side driving. 

The safety policy belings in all branches.

Human nature is to ease into changes to slow down the reaction of emotional impact of changes, rather than make a determination to change and move beyond emotions. Stories says that some, when starting a new job, must ease into the job by only working a few hours a day. And most of us do not appreciate the emotions of the sudden change of ice-cold water, and is very hesitant to just jump in without first ease into it first

A Safety Management System (SMS) Safety Policy is still in a developing stage and new to most aviation service suppliers. Safety may have been implemented in several of the exploration and mining industries, but in aviation safety became the hit-and-miss approach. The fact that the majority of airlines operate without major accidents does not support that there are streamlined and effective safety operational processes in place. What this data of few accidents tells us is that there were few accidents. The data don’t tell any stories of how effective operational safety processes are. 

A safety policy keeps the tracks lined up at all levels

The effectiveness of safety processes begins with the Safety Policy and have no ending, but continues on with human factors. A Safety Policy is only applicable to an organization when implemented at all levels. There are positions in any organization, aviation industry included, which at first sight does not appear to be a part of safety. However, these positions will always be a part of the second phase of implementing driving on left-hand-side to right-hand-side. Or, in other words, when the Safety Policy is not implemented at all levels in the organization, these positions become a hazard to aviation safety. 

The top management is an SMS organization is the Accountable Executive (AE). Should an aviation organization not make the Safety Policy applicable to the AE, the organization does not have a Safety Management System in place, no matter what processes are implemented. At the opposite end, unless lower level personnel are included in the Safety Policy there is no SMS in place. A safety polity that is selectively implemented is not a valid policy and if not applicable to all, it’s applicable to none.

Safety in aviation must be viewed from a customer’s point of view and what safety risk the customer is willing to accept. All travelling customers only accept Zero Tolerance to Compromise Aviation Safety, which begins with the Safety Policy and have no ending, but continues on with human factors.

CatalinaNJB