In many complex and dangerous industries, safety is becoming more imperative to every day operations. So much so, that even CEOs are taking on the mantle of 'chief safety officer'. By doing this, it sends a clear message that everyone in the organisation, from the board to the shop floor, has a vital role to play in keeping themselves, their colleagues and their customers safe and compliant. This should also be the case in aviation.
The chief executive at one of world’s largest chemical manufacturers also refers to themselves as its chief safety officer. Sadly that in itself did not stop incidents happening; in 2014 four workers died following a toxic leak at a plant in Texas.
For CEOs to be taking on the title of 'chief safety officer' means that this is not just a throwaway title, but one that holds vital importance for the organisation and are looking for meaningful ways to improve safety for everyone involved.
That’s the same philosophy that should be embedded into the heart of safety auditing solutions, which all airlines should be using - inline in ICAO's Annex 19 four principles of safety management systems.
Our view is that when a single person or department has sole responsibility for safety then that aspect of an airline tends to be locked away in a silo and often leads to finger pointing when something does go awry.
Safety management system software can provide a widely-accessible hub for the reporting of safety issues where all processes – from event and hazard investigations through to risk assessments and peer reviews – are handled.
Transparency is a crucial element to all this, and once something is entered into the safety management software, its progress can be tracked right the way through to its ultimate conclusion, which could be a recommendation for an issue to be addressed or a decision that no further action needs to be taken.
Whatever the outcome, the right safety management software can build confidence throughout airlines to help enhance their safety management systems, creating just safety cultures (where whistleblowing isn’t a dirty word) from the inside, leaving no one in any doubt that operational safety is the utmost priority.
