Aviation Safety Management Program - Research Paper Example

 Aviation Safety Management Program Abstract Safety management should be an integral part of any business establishment. This is because all workers, irrespective of their tasks or obligations within a workplace, are entitled to utmost physical, social and mental wellbeing, in order to effectively execute their responsibilities. As a result, a company must have well defined safety policy guidelines, in order to guarantee the required health and security. This report critically analyzed the safety procedures followed by Blue Coral Copters, a Hawaii based helicopter Tour Company. The report further identified this company’s diverse safety weaknesses and FAA safety provisions violations, effectively determining the aspects that needed rectification. The report categorizes the safety recommendations under principal classes of human factors, hazard designation and risk management, education and training, as well as, past policy developments that necessitate accident prevention and mitigation. Introduction Management is crucial in any establishment, especially in a bid to guarantee a workplace that is devoid of injury, illness and death, hence insuring optimal health and safety of all stakeholders. Blue Coral Copters is an exemplary organizational model in dire need of a comprehensive safety program. Analysis of the helicopter tour company reveals significant flaws in its safety management approach and non-conformity to various Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety management principles. Even though the company has an exceptional safety record compared to the general aviation sector, it has lax guidelines on the same (Hudson et al., 1994). Like most helicopter tour companies, Blue Coral Copters seems to advocate for the thrill of rides around the Hawaiian island at the expense of guaranteeing safety for the pilots and tourists. Safe, effective and profitable operation of the tour company should be the principal aggregate goal of Blue Coral Copters. Every stakeholder, from the owner and proprietor to pilots and maintenance crews, should strictly adhere to the safety principles recommended and contribute toward hazard reporting, risk management and other safety agenda. Information on these aspects will be shared through safety management meetings and notice boards. Objectives The primary objective of this safety management report is to inspire and maintain a high standard safety culture at Blue Coral Copters through several measures including: Detection of inadequacies in safety information, procedures, practices, and knowledge of aviation hazards. Evaluation of safety information records and hazard management approaches. Carrying out audits on different aspects of the company’s administration and operations. Reviewing and addressing non-compliance with FAA safety guidelines that affect company operations. Human Factors Pilot Qualifications Pilots in this organization are known for their electric performance. Additionally, they are people with a lot of experience ranging from militarily aviators as well as police pilots. However, they are only evaluated by Nick regardless of the fact that they fly using dissimilar perspectives and styles. Their evaluation is usually based on an interview conducted by Nick. It is evident that a ride in the air craft is not enough to evaluate the capability of an individual as a pilot. Additionally, Nick is not a proficient pilot and does not check on all the rules despites him being a natural pilot. Pilots are not trained regularly unless one is involved in an incident. Moreover, the company does not necessarily follow the set FAA standards since they are given the freedom to fly and training is not a big propriety for the organization ((FAA, 2009). Therefore, there is need to change this in order for the organization to have a better review in performance and safety management. In order to achieve high class safety and management reviews, the organization should make sure that their pilots are evaluated regularly and trained in different aviation safety management aspects. Some of the changes that should be implemented are discussed herein. Pilot qualification and experience should be done by TOPS members by utilizing FAA report of the pilot's certificate of record. This will ensure that people are safe since some of the pilots can present fraudulent qualification documents. This will be avoided because the evaluation will use the pilot's certificate of record. Additionally, the minimum pilot qualifications require one thousand hours of helicopter Pilot in Command (PIC) time. This is a qualification that the company management is not keen on because they focus more on experience. However, an individual can have a 5 years experience and fail to have attained the necessary hours. Additionally, a pilot should have 100 hours flying experience in the terrain where one will be operating (Wells & Rodrigues, 2004). Ground support personnel The ground support personnel are considered to be part of the crew because they provide crucial contribution to the general safety management of the operation. The ground support personnel should be qualified in dealing with probable safety issues that will assist both the pilots and clients. Therefore, they should be trained and qualified in different flying elements. For instance, they should be able to brief passengers regarding safety, as well as, other flight-related issues. Most importantly, they should be capable of escorting passengers in the immediate plane activity area. The ground support personnel are also required to get trained on how to assist clients with loading and unloading cargo or personal luggage. This will ensure that there are no probable accidents that can be caused by wrong luggage storage especially on the overhead luggage cabinets. Additionally, the ground support personnel should help the clients with their seat belts and provide them with any information relative to the flight and aircraft routines. They are also responsible for monitoring and assisting helicopter movement especially during take-off. This is especially imperative when the take off is in a congested area. Ground support personnel should also provide radio communications and flight following with the aircraft. This is imperative in case there is an issue reported. They are supposed to provide emergency notification as well as implement accident response processes when suitable (Kinnison, 2004). Hazard Designation and Risk Management Management Analysis of Blue Coral Copters’ hazard and risk management approach reveals significant weaknesses. For instance, the proprietor simply overhears pilots’ encounters with emerging hazards in the course of their tours. This is despite the dangers posed by the rugged beach cliffs, risky landing zones, possible collisions with other tour helicopters and electric wires, among other hazards. Lack of formal and comprehensive hazard definitions means that, pilots do not know how to deal with situations that pose danger to their lives and those of tourists. Further, this deficiency prevents the company from taking proper danger prevention measures. The potential adversity of risk management deficits is evident from the proprietor’s laxity in equipping the helicopters with safety gear, even after pilots’ explicit recommendations The company should strive to change this approach to risk management. This can be achieved by ensuring that all persons have the ability to identify hazards and evaluate the risks likely to result from every hazard. The company must also delineate the proper control measures that pilots should take to prevent or minimize the risks associated with identified hazards. Clear definition of hazards, associated risks and potential mitigation measures would ensure that pilots are not caught off guard in case they encounter hazardous situations. It would also ensure that there are administrative measures adopted in risk management, while formally instituting use of protective gear during tours (Edkins & Coakes, 1998). Blue Coral Copters must also have properly defined provisions on management of hazardous substances. It is not enough to simply ask pilots to avoid flying while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There should be formal policy guidelines advising on use of these substances, potential consequences and actions that will be taken against policy violators. It is also imperative to note that, aviation necessitates use of perilous substances, especially for maintenance of aircraft (BASI, 1998). Examples of these hazardous substances include engine cleaning chemicals, fuel, and other substances that contribute toward efficient functioning of helicopters. Blue Coral Copters should, therefore, formulate a register for these hazardous substances. This would facilitate monitoring of purchase, use, storage and disposal of the substances, thus minimizing their risks to personnel safety and health. The company should also requisition Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for every risky substance and avail constituent information to all workers. An improved risk management approach will guarantee establishment and enforcement of standards that guarantee prioritization of safety in all tour operations. For example, there should be standards governing flight operations. These would ensure that pilots execute the tours while avoiding prevalent of thrill rides, abrupt maneuvers or risky aerobatics. Based on these standards, Blue Coral Copters will also be able to facilitate creation of a safety management program, which includes professional external safety courses for all personnel (Edkinsm & Pollock, 1996). The proposed risk management approach will also leave room for frequent safety audits, which will be carried out by independent auditors identified by Blue Coral Copters. Pilots will be required to pass these independent audits, in order to qualify as fulltime helicopter operators for the company. For enhanced safety of operators, the new risk management strategy must clearly define weather minimums and standards for normal flight operations. This will counter the habit of solely relying on local weather forecasts or assumptions that there are normally no changes in Hawaii, to justify flying at any time. These preset flight conditions will ensure that the company coordinates with other helicopter tour operators flying within the shared air space. The standards will ensure that the company operates in a professional manner and does not compromise safety of pilots and clients. The helicopter tour company must also strive to hold occasional meetings to coordinate tour routes, while reporting on safety progress or proposing changes to safety procedures. Aircraft equipment A review of Blue Coral Copters’ aircraft shows that some of the helicopters still make use of the traditional cockpits, while a few have the modern glass cockpits. Further, the operators are frequently shuffled from one type of helicopter to another, and occasionally complain that they get confused. The company must rectify this, by ensuring that all helicopters meet up to date federal requirements. In addition to adopting all the requisite federal equipment provisions, the company could go a step further and install Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTS) in all its helicopters. This would make it easy to locate copters that encounter mechanical problems in between tours. Given the fact that most flights are over water, the company should equip the choppers with flotation equipment such as the recommended pop-out floaters. This would facilitate safe emergency landing when the situation warrants it, and avoid unsafe recommendations such as that provided by the proprietor insisting that pilots should stay close to the beach (TC, 2010). Maintenance From analysis of the company’s maintenance procedures, it is evident that there are weaknesses that should be addressed. For example, the maintenance crew uses the same ramp being used by copters for landing. As a result, the area is crowded, inhibiting safe landing and proper maintenance of the aircraft. In addition, pilots also tend to carry out maintenance duties, applying their own aircraft knowledge to determine whether the copters are in flying condition, while rectifying mechanical problems. Even though this has been working for the company, Blue Coral Copters must standardize maintenance procedures. This should involve designation of a maintenance area, to facilitate its distinction from landing pads. The company must also ensure that the maintenance crew comprises of licensed technicians, with experience in helicopter repair and general maintenance. The maintenance crew must also meet the highest standards of stipulated federal regulations. Blue Coral Copters may offer extra technical training by occasionally enrolling its maintenance staff in diverse factory courses. This will ensure that the crew is up to date on maintenance of current helicopter models. Safety Reporting The other principal deficiency noted in Blue Coral Copters’ safety programs and risk management is poor maintenance of safety logs and data. This should be rectified, through improvement of bookkeeping procedures. Better recording and storage of safety data will ensure that loopholes are identified and corrected early enough, before jeopardizing personnel and customers’ safety (Stolzer, Halford & Goglia, 2009). Education and Training Blue Coral Copters should make sure that training is emphasized to all company personnel. This will ensure that the staff will maintain utmost professionalism standards in safety management. Training is also imperative because people will be able to maintain attention to detail, as well as, comply with the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR's) and organization standards (Wood 1991). Safety management training will assist the staff to promote safer and more productive environments within the organization. This will be possible if the company makes sure that the basic training is provided by experts following all the required FAA rules and regulations. Such training will ensure that everybody in the organization understands the safety culture and management system (Wood, 2003). It is imperative to note that safety management training requires full participation of all staff members of the organization. All pilots should be trained for a minimum of 1000 hours under the FAR Part 135 flight training standards. This kind of training will ensure that the pilots are able to notice any problem in the helicopters without necessarily consulting from other people. The pilots should also be trained in Hazard identification. Blue Coral Copters should make sure that their pilots and ground support personnel are able to identify different kinds of hazards that can cause accidents. This is extremely imperative in such an organization since they are a tour company and the most crucial thing is maintaining client loyalty (Walters & Sumwalt, 2000). The organization’s staff should also be trained on different aspects of risk management. The pilots are supposed to identify any potential risks that can impact their operations and at the same time be able to apply the necessary controls. Therefore, the flight safety program should focus on all airline operations. This is because of the fact that training is supposed improving safety and reduce the risk of potential accidents (Reason, 1997). Additional training is also required for Crew Resource Management. This is because their support for the pilots will ensure that the safety of all persons is ensured. For instance, the crew should be trained on aeronautical decision making. This is because it is imperative to be able to make the necessary decisions when faced with unexpected problems. They should therefore be trained on decision making procedures that are available and when they can be applied. The crew should also be trained on recovery tactics especially when faced by adverse weather conditions. In such cases, the passengers are extremely affected. This means that the crew should be trained on interpersonal and intrapersonal communication skills that will assist them interacting with the clients and get them to relax and not to panic (JDA, 2009). The other imperative training course that should be implemented in the organization is emergency procedure training. This will assist the crew in following the set procedures provided by the FAA. Emergency procedure training should be done regularly since some of the rules are hard to remember. However, the crew should be taught that at times they can be able to apply their own knowledge to get people to relax when performing on-board passenger briefings. This is because some of the passengers can be extremely traumatized to focus on what they should do. Historical Developments Integral in Organizational Accident Mitigation and Prevention There is a wide array of past developments that justify implementation of the recommended safety procedures. The most recent are safety guidelines enacted by the Department of Transport in response to 20 commercial copter accidents, which took place between 1991 and 2010, resulting in many fatalities. These safety provisions relate to operations of commercial, private, ambulance and general aviation helicopters. There are also FAA rules, which were enacted in response to increased helicopter accidents. The latter seek to streamline helicopter operational procedures and recommend installation of extra equipment, like visual and emergency locator gadgets. These rules aim at increasing safety for helicopter operations by emphasizing pilot qualifications and testing, as well as, advanced equipment, tools and procedures, which prevent accidents (FAA, 2008). General Recommendations Pilots work for 10 hours for seven days. This means that they can be overworked and this can lead to accidents. Therefore, Blue Coral Copters management should make sure that they hire more pilots. This will ensure that the pilots have enough rest before they have another chance to fly. As discussed above, it is extremely imperative to ensure that the pilots and the ground support personnel are trained. This is because with proper training in safety management, there will be fewer incidents and accidents experienced. The crew should be notified of their assigned aircraft on time. Therefore, the organization should make sure that they have an automated schedule platform that will automatically notify the crew 24 hours earlier. This is extremely imperative because everybody will have enough time to prepare for duty ad conduct the necessary inspections the aircraft. Safety management rules and regulations are updated regularly. Therefore, it is imperative that the staff should be notified of the changes regularity. Instead of posting them on the notice board, Nick should implement a better system that will make sure that everybody has been informed promptly. For instance, the workers should be encouraged to check their emails regularly for any updates. Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperative to note that Aviation Safety Management Program is important for the safety of the passengers and the crew in general. Therefore, Blue Coral Copters should make sure that their safety management program is easy to understand and readily available to all staff members. Additionally, training programs on safety management should be done regularly. This will make sure that the crew follows the set FAA regulations which are essential for safety purposes. Therefore, the management should follow try and implement some of the discussed recommendations to enhance safety. References Bureau of Air Safety Investigation (BASI). (1998). Regional Airlines Safety Study. Report Number 1, Project Overview. BASI: Canberra. Edkins, D., & Coakes, S. (1998). Measuring safety culture in an Australian regional airline: The development of the Airline Safety Culture Index (ASCI). Safety Science, 26(2). Edkins, D., & Pollock, C. (1996). 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