The Six Requirements to Implement Aviation Safety Culture

By P.S. Ganapathy- Ex-General Manager Operations, Air India & Senior Aviation Consultant
Safety is a continuous journey without destination. In spite of the best efforts by all concerned in the air transport industry, human error continues to dominate with over 70% as the major cause of accidents / incidents in aviation. Though number of proactive measures such as emphasis on training/ recurrent training of aviation personnel, establishment of safety management system and proactive voluntary reporting system etc had been implemented, human errors continue to happen. Further we continue to witness consistent growth in the civil aviation sector.

Safety Culture is the set of enduring values and attitudes regarding safety issues, shared by every member at every level of an organization. Safety culture refers to the extent to which every individual and every group of the organization:

• Is aware of the risks and unknown hazards prompted by its activities;
• Is continuously assessing and controlling the risks to enhance safety;
• Is willing to communicate safety issues and
• Is willing to make safety culture assessment within the whole organization.

Our culture determines what we regard as important and what we see as normal and acceptable. Simply Safety Culture is what each person believes about the importance of safety and how he or she contributes in light of that belief. It is about understanding what risks are associated with the job, and what your responsibility is regarding that risk.

No doubt, SMS has improved the safety standards throughout the aviation industry. It is true that every organization