There are many possible definitions of safety culture in aviation safety management systems (SMS). Generic definitions focus on:
While these points certainly are a core part of safety culture, they are also unhelpfully vague. What is more helpful is: What does safety culture look like in the operational environment?
When looking at safety culture in this way, there are several things we must acknowledge:
Exploring these different aviation safety culture components and the ways safety culture can be measured is extremely helpful for understanding why an aviation SMS functions the way it does. Here are the 5 components of aviation safety culture.
By "frequent" we are talking about the expected number of hazard reports submitted within a particular time period. Mature hazard reporting cultures see a historical, steady rise in the number of monthly hazard reports followed by a leveling off of hazard reports so that monthly safety reporting statistics are consistent.
Some ways to develop hazard reporting cultures are:
A couple of notes on the above points. Having multiple ways to report hazards, such as via email, cellphones, company website, etc., will undoubtedly improve hazard reporting numbers. Moreover, formally recognizing valuable contributors to the SMS also provides a good incentive for other employees to report.
Mature hazard reporting culture provides superior data acquisition and safety data.
Safety awareness (lack of awareness) is one of the 12 Dirty Dozen Human Factors, and indeed it very well may have the highest implication in most safety incidents. In simple terms, safety awareness is the ability to recognize the wide-ranging potential effects of one's actions on the operational environment.
Having good vigilance can literally be the difference between an accident and not. Some good indicators that an organization has good organizational safety awareness are:
You will notice that the above list includes some quality management items, such as having a stable workforce. There is no doubt that when organizations provide a non-toxic environment for employees to work, safety will improve simply because employees will have a more positive attitude that is better suited for safety.
As you attempt to raise safety awareness in your organization, consider how non-safety related-elements of worker's jobs may indirectly improve safety.
Human factors play an integral role in aviation SMS. Most root causes of accidents and incidents can be traced back to human factors. Aviation service providers that focus on the human element are more resistant to risk-related consequences as they practice their risk management processes.
Safety communication concerns how safety information flows between managers and employees of your organization. Ideally, safety information will flow freely between:
Safety information is simply any information that affects safety, including
Some indicators of good safety communication in an organization are:
Safety willingness is an extremely important part of a safety culture that tends to live in the shadow of communication and awareness. Willingness is simply how motivated employees (including management) are to:
Markers of good safety willingness in a company are:
Safety willingness will greatly aid in the efficiency of aviation SMS implementation. Improving safety willingness in the aviation industry is most effective with a top-down approach. Management leads by example and is a vocal supporter of the SMS.
Your safety culture's level of willingness can be improved by safety champions at various levels within the organization. These safety champions are charismatic and infect your culture with their positive attitudes and dedication to improving "system safety." Safety champions at the line level are not as effective as an account executive or upper management support; however, do not discount their value. Just as a bad apple (resistant employee) can eat away and erode your safety culture, influential safety champions can positively shape safety cultures at the departmental level.
New aviation SMS implementations need safety champions at all levels to change attitudes toward the new way of doing business. Aviation SMS changes cultures from "we've always done it this way," to "how do we improve the system to make it more:"
High-performing safety cultures look for opportunities, whereas poor-performing cultures stagnate or are constantly reacting to events due to resistant attitudes.
Management-employee relationships are extremely important. The ideal scenario here isn't necessarily that front-line employees and management are best friends, but rather that:
Signs of good management-employee relationship in your organization are:
Having good relationships between front-line employees and management may marginally help safety culture in aviation SMS, but having bad relationships between front-line employees and management will certainly greatly hurt safety culture.
Several good resources to help build your safety culture are:
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Last updated September 2024.