IS SAFETY REALLY OUR HIGHEST PRIORITY?

I was reading an article a few weeks ago which included some UK statistics related to the wearing of seat belts in cars. The article stated that 'of the 787 drivers or passengers who died in 2017, 212 (27%) were not wearing seat belts, compared with 20% in 2016'. It's a shocking statistic and although one that is likely to be mirrored in other places around the world, made me think of parallels within the aviation industry.

In the UK, legislation was initially passed 36 years ago in 1983 and again in 2006 making the wearing of seatbelts and subsequently, rear seat belts, compulsory. You can also be fined up to ￡500 if prosecuted. At the time there was a national campaign to promote this and statistics now prove that "In a crash, you are twice as likely to die if you

don't wear a seat belt." It begs the question, why would you knowingly put yourself in a situation that may result in your death, or at least serious injury?

A spokesman from the Royal Automobile Association (RAC) said at the time "a decline in roads policing over the last 10 years may have encouraged people to feel they can get away with illegal driving behaviour. It is surprising that anyone these days would get into a car without belting up."

Despite all of this and it being a completely obvious, simple and quick measure to take, unbelievably, some people still die on our roads because they consciously chose not to wear a seatbelt. It seems crazy.

Whilst numbers shown within this article are relatively small they are comparable with UK fatal injuries in the workplace, where in 2018/19 the UK Health & Safety Executive (HSE) report that a total of 147 workers died in the workplace, 16 of which were in the 'Transport and storage' sectors.

In reality, this is likely to be the tip of the iceberg. Add to that injuries, near misses and those that 'got away with it' the numbers become much higher, in fact huge.

Much of this, of course, we all already know. Now think about the aviation sector, its not hugely different.

In 1982, a time not that long ago when I first started in the industry, the wearing of Hi-Viz tabards, safety shoes and hearing protection on the ramp were not a requirement for most and generally not seen. In fact, it didn't even really enter our consciousness. Training of any sort was something that you were lucky to get in most cases. It seems crazy doesn't it? But its true.

We've come an awful long way since then, safety thinking has rightly developed a hundred-fold. We've seen the introduction of PPE, Risk Assessments and Human Factors training all long since being a central pillars of most global aviation structures. They are common place, even foundational principles with many organisations yet we still appear to have a major problem with safety. Why?

We know that the reasons for 'not doing safety properly' are many and varied. However, in many cases I've found that it can often come down to an individual making a personal choice. As strange as it seems, just like the seatbelt analogy, you are still highly likely to see a De-Icing operative somewhere consciously choosing not to wear a harness when in the open basket of a rig or an aircraft loader not deploying the safety rails despite obvious risk it presents. We've known for some time that biggest cause of incidents around the aircraft is 'failure to follow documented procedure' and that correlates with much of the audit data that I've seen.

One of the biggest problems is that, much of the time, this type of behaviour goes unchallenged, unrecorded, unreported and unnoticed by both colleagues and the organisation itself. Its the biggest part of the iceberg, which remains submerged firmly underwater.

A lot of people dislike procedures and regulations which I can understand that to an extent. Just to prove a basic point during training sessions, I have often asked "what would it be like if we didn't have regulation, rules, procedures etc., what would happen?". It seems like a basic question but initiates some interesting and thought provoking reactions.

If we could guarantee that everybody would do the 'right' thing we probably wouldn't need any rules or at least so many of them. But the fact is, we can't guarantee anything.

I've seen many really great examples of Ground Service Providers (GSP) with well embedded safety disciplines, positive safety culture with mature and effective SMS. I've also seen those with tick box exercises, organisations going through the motions with little in the way of any tangible outputs. I've also seen the other extreme of, nothing. Yes, in 2019 there are still too many organisations who do nothing!

Maybe its the lack of money, infrastructure, expertise, know-how or will to make their workplaces and activities safer that's the problem but its not a justifiable excuse. Even in this situation, something, however basic could be done and be effective. Nevertheless, the Airlines still contract them, mostly knowingly.

Here's the conundrum. If an airline flies a route that makes a lot of money for them, would they stop flying because their GSP is, effectively, unsafe or would they use their experience and expertise to help their GSP to become safer? In many cases the answer is, neither.

In 2018, EASA introduced regulations requiring GSP's (amongst others) to adopt Management Systems which includes the requirement to 'manage safety risks'. For years the regulation of the ground handling sector has been debated and there are pro's and con's. But in the end it comes down to this; if you don't or won't regulate yourself, then eventually someone else has to do it for you.

It should have a positive effect on safety overall, but its not the answer and only likely to have an impact if the regulatory authorities are effective and visible, just like the policing of the roads analogy that i mentioned earlier. Additionally, the industry and its organisations need to be more effective at self-regulation.

We often see the phrase "safety is our highest priority". To be honest, it somewhat turns me off. Its quick and easy to say, designed to satisfy and send the right messages. If that works, then great, I'm all for it. But the cynic in me makes it feel a little like an add on, something that requires continual intervention and pushing rather than that old, reliable, well oiled machine that has reassuringly hummed continuously and quietly in the corner. You know its there and doing its job, not forever running out of fuel and needing to be restarted.

I've often been asked how long it takes to implement an SMS. Putting in place structures, writing manuals are the easy and relatively quick part. Successfully and permanently changing the culture has to be, by far, the most challenging and time consuming aspect.

Some years ago, the airport was a thriving career hub, somewhere you wanted to be to get a great career with good rewards. Things have obviously changed, some of it very positively, but the continued and relentless push down on organisational costs to fund cheaper air fares, 2 am shift starts, zero hour contracts etc. have now created a vastly different environment.

We require a lot from our front line employees but as a result of that push, loyalty and morale is often low, turnover is high, the career becomes 'just a job' and the salary simply 'a wage'. The churn clearly becomes difficult to manage and, ultimately, safety suffers. Somewhere that slide has to be arrested and the culture more positive.

Add to that the enormous pressure and very long hours that are expected of executives, managers and staff (I know, I was one of them!) the result can be a massive uphill struggle to retain even basic of control. The new regulation touches on staff turnover but there's so much more to do.

Don't misunderstand. There is some 'great safety' being done by very talented people (I've met many of them) in many places and very effective organisations that can help but across the board its simply too sporadic or ineffective.

The answer is far from clear. A few of the issues are personal, cultural, organisational. Others are regulatory constraints even national politics. In reality safety costs money, it impacts the bottom line. In safety, just like in life, we often get subtle warnings, the warnings that we cannot afford to ignore. The warnings are ever present. We have to get serious.

Industry bodies, regulators, organisations, individuals themselves all need to take a long hard look at themselves and honestly ask are they doing all they can? Accepting that there are enormous challenges, but if safety really was the industry's highest priority, would we be (collectively) better at it than we are?

They say the truth can hurt but we need this debate! 

This post was written by Simon Miles.

Simon is the Owner and Managing Director of Miles Aviation Consultancy Ltd, a company specialising in Ground Operations and Ground Handling based in Brighton, South-East UK who provide consultancy, training and auditing services to the commercial and military aviation industry.

Miles Aviation Consultancy Ltd are a double award winning company and can contacted via their website at www.milesaviation.com or via email at [email protected]

? Miles Aviation Consultancy Ltd 2019