This paper evaluates an Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHMS) of an airline. Ultimately, the goal of the Safety Management System (SMS) for the airline is to prevent accidents and harm. But aviation operations will always be subject to operational hazards and their associated risks, and the SMS provides a systematic approach for reducing these risks as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) to an acceptable level by reducing their probability and/or consequence.
Therefore, the SMS is designed to be a dynamic foundation that goes beyond compliance to continually improve safety performance in practice. Still, this coordinated business approach to safety also provides significant additional benefits, including proactive management of change, operational efficiencies, and employee engagement.
However, the airline is a complex organisation with multiple management systems, dispersed operations, many technical functions, highly regulated-overlapping State jurisdiction, and is subject to multiple national regulations. Besides, there are multiple management systems supported by different departments in an airline.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Integrated Airline Safety Management System (IASMS)
3. Evaluation of the OHSMS
4. Strengths of the OHSMS
4.1 Policy and strategy
4.2 Identification of ten critical risks
4.3 Alignment with the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework
4.4 Risk management and tools
4.5. Emergency preparedness and response
4.6 Reporting and investigation
4.7 Health and wellbeing promotion
4.8 Engagement
5. Weaknesses of the OHSMS
6. Recommendations
References
1. Introduction
Ultimately, the goal of the SMS for the airline is to prevent accidents and harm.
But aviation operations will always be subject to operational hazards and their associated risks, and the SMS provides a systematic approach for reducing these risks as low as reasonably practicable (ALARP) to an acceptable level by reducing their probability and/ or consequence.
Therefore, the SMS is designed to be a dynamic foundation which goes beyond compliance to continually improve safety performance in practice.
Still, this coordinated business approach to safety also provides significant additional benefits, including proactive management of change, operational efficiencies and employee engagement.
However, the airline is a complex organisation with multiple management systems, dispersed operations, many technical functions, highly regulated-overlapping State jurisdiction and subject to multiple national regulations.(“Figure 1”).
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Figure 1: The airline is a complex organisation (IATA,2009)
Besides, there are multiple management systems supported by different departments in an airline such as Safety Management System (SMS), Quality Management System (QMS), Security Management System (SeMS), Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA), Environmental Management System (EMS) and OHSMS.
In 2006, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) published the Safety Management Manual (SMM) which required airlines to implement an SMS through their national bodies (i.e. New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority) and stated that "Aviation organization should be encouraged to integrate their quality, safety, security, occupational health and safety, and environmental management systems" (ICAO, 2008).
2. Integrated Airline Safety Management System (IASMS)
The company has adopted an IASMS manual which outlines the core policies and processes that make up the company group SMS with the expectation that all management and associated staff members understand and perform duties in conformance with this guide.
Therefore, it establishes a systematic approach of safety which ultimately benefits both safety and business aspects of the organisation by providing measurable operational safety performance indicators (Royal NLR, n.d.) and key health and safety lead indicators to be reviewed weekly by the executive team (Safe+, 2017).
Yet, this tool should be used in conjunction with other company documentation and standard operation procedure (SOP) but also provides specific operating policy and processes and must be adhered to and available at all times.
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Figure 2: The model of IASMS
In "figure 2", the IASMS is schematised and rests on the four pillars of the SMS (Federal Aviation Administration, 2017).
Within this model, the OHSMS sits under what the company call the People Safety department with the General Manager of People Safety and Aviation Medicine at its head while the IASMS focuses more on operational safety and consequently is under the supervision of the Chief Operational Integrity and Safety Officer.
Nevertheless, these safety systems are complementary and managers are expected to ensure they are operating effectively within the organisational structure.
In the aviation context, operations are the activities done under an aviation certificate (e.g., ground and flight operations, aircraft maintenance) including the processes which directly support these operational activities.
Then, operational safety is the state in which risks associated with aviation activities, related to, or indirect support of the operation of aircraft, are reduced and controlled to an acceptable level.
Such operational safety risks include runway excursions, aircraft component failure due to incorrect maintenance and aircraft control problem due to loading error.
In contrast, People Safety refers to as safety, health, and welfare of the workforce . Examples of people safety risks include: slips, trips, falls from height, and driving accidents.
Finally, the CAANZ approved the company senior safety system manager responsible for the operation of the IASMS and to ensure the operator compliance with relevant regulations and standards, safety assurance and evaluation and continual improvement of operational safety performance ("Figure 3”).
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Figure 3: Organisation Chart - Safety Management
For instance, understand whether a hazard is pertinent to operational or occupational safety depends on its potential or foreseeable consequence or risk.
If a hazard impact (whether directly or indirectly) on the operational safety of aircraft or aviation safety-related equipment, products and services, it should be deemed pertinent to the IASMS.
However, if it has occupational safety consequences (i.e., without any impact on aviation safety, it should be addressed separately by the People Safety team.
Therefore, occupational hazards without consequence on aviation safety are not pertinent to the IASMS but are tracked by the People Safety team utilising the same safety system database as operational safety.
Nevertheless, safety risks associated with compound hazards that simultaneously impact operational and occupational safety are managed through separate (i.e., parallel) risk mitigation processes to address the separate operational and occupational consequences respectively utilising the safety system database.
For example, a lightning strike on an aircraft at an airport gate may be deemed by the People Safety team as a workplace hazard (i.e., ground personnel/workplace safety) and to a safety specialist, it is also an operational hazard with a risk of damage to the aircraft and a risk to passenger safety.
Since operational and occupational safety consequences of such compound hazards are not the same, these are managed separately.
3. Evaluation of the OHSMS
The company has capitalised on its knowledge of its SMS to develop an efficient OHSMS under the responsibility of the People Safety team but also been part of the Accident Compensation Corporation Accredited Employer Programme (AEP) scheme, has helped the organisation to continuously identify, review, improve and monitor safety.
Therefore the People Safety team has developed a Health, Safety, Environment and Wellbeing Management System (HSEW) which provide the organisation with a dynamic foundation focused on holistic management from the bottom-up (e.g., CEO) to managing people safety where they are all equally accountable ("Figure 4”)
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