YOUR SAFETY SYSTEM MUST HAVE BACKBONE

By Michaela Meiswinkel | Read time 8 mins | March 2021 | Issue 1

Two elements universal to every aviation business are the following: (1) the people involved in getting a machine safely into the sky, and (2) the ever-present chance of something going wrong.

For these reasons, an aviation business must have a method that allows employees to report easily and swiftly on the hazards they may encounter on any given day. An effective safety system prioritises the streamlined gathering of such reports. In this blog I chat about three safety practices that form the backbone of a safety system that will endure over time and is resilient to assorted challenges that typify our rather complex industry.

#1 An Easy Reporting System

If you ask me to jump through too many hoops to sign up for whatever it is you’re promoting, I’m likely to give it a miss. Participation needs to be made easy, even if the service you provide — open and painless reporting— is beneficial and gratis!

Using technology: Tech is unavoidable in this day and age. Leaving your house without your smart phone is like stepping out your front door and feeling that cool breeze up your legs because you’ve forgotten an essential part of your wardrobe!

Upload an app or mobile-compatible website designed for safety reporting. Flight crew, ground crew and the engineers do hands-on work away from office tech and need a means of reporting in the moment because risks encountered earlier in the day will be forgotten at day’s end.

A large amount of safety concerns are never brought to light if employees deem the effort of filing the report outweighs the risk of the hazard.

For the tech savvy: Remember, information can be stored in the moment and later uploaded once in a wi-fi zone for those data conscious colleagues. For the tech avoiders: If you do not have access to or are not able to use a smart phone (yip, I’m talking to the fogeys here), a paper version of a reporting form needs to be available at various work stations throughout your office space.

#2 How To Know What a Hazard Looks Like

Ask people to look around the place they are standing in, inside or out, and list the hazards they can see. The answers are predictable: a fire hazard here, a tripping hazard there. There are many more, but we need to be taught how to look for them.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery once said “What is essential, is invisible to the eyes.”

Using a simple methodology to identify hazards can double or triple how we recognise what is unsafe. ICAO has, to me, the best methodology for hazard identification so there is no need for us to be fancy and inventive here. The SHELL model: SOFTWARE: Are your SOP’s and manuals still on version 1, is the information on your notice boards current and accurate, is the system software you work with outdated and slow, are you happy with the company policies and your terms of contract? HARDWARE: More obvious are unserviceable parts on a machine but don’t forget to include tools used to fix these or the PPE needed to be worn. How about your office building and the relative ergonomics? ENVIRONMENT: Working outside in the African heat is no joke. Just as fatiguing is constant noise (try having an office inside a hangar with 24/7 riveting going on!). LIVEWARE (self): The human factor is a major contributor to risk. On top of doing the usual physiological checklist, emotional and financial stresses play a part in how safely we do our job. LIVEWARE (others): Good morale between employees in the workplace cannot be over estimated. Can you now look around wherever you are and see what was before invisible to the eyes!? The above is a simple breakdown of the SHELL model however, incorrect implementation will not render the results you need. For more about this see my blog Do The Right Thing Right.

# 3 Motivating Your Reporters

I was once asked to “sell” the need for reporting to an employee to get them to “buy in.” In the moment I was stumped for an answer, the need seems so obvious to me. I later realised what my answer should have been — that SAFETY does not need be “sold” to anyone. Full stop. Do you want to keep all ten fingers and toes? Do you want job security? If ‘yes’ — then take part!

The reactive approach: Preventing self injury in the workplace should top everyone’s list; if not, I take it to mean they live in a bubble-wrapped marshmallow world. Letting unsafe acts, objects and conditions go unreported eventually may lead to injury. If serious, this may prove financially consequential to the business. Not only does this affect the main investors, but also those of us who failed to report yet needed this job to survive.

The proactive approach: Engage staff to identifying all those things that work well ie. better than what those department’s goals originally outlined. For example, methodologies which brings results, equipment that eases workload or an employee who raises morale. Reporting on the good stuff is a great motivator and shows what direction you need to keep moving in to keep safety improving.

Need information on where to find the software to suit your business or how to use the SHELL model, get in touch info@kisapproach.com.

Safety is consequently defined by what happens when it is present, rather than by what happens when it is absent. — ICAO