Safety Managers-asset or not

An aviation safety manager can be given many different titles. There are Directors of Flight Safety, Vice Presidents of Safety, Director of Occupational and Operational Safety, Manager of Station and Facility Safety, Manager of Safety Training and Awards, Manager of Cabin Safety and Health, and the list goes on. All of these different areas have certain duties and responsibilities that are common between them. This blog will focus on why they are an asset and how they can be valuable to the airline industry.

To start from the top, the Vice President of Safety has the authority to establish and modify policies, procedures, and programs within the Safety Division. Some of the responsibilities of this position include: monitoring the daily operation to identify hazards, provide guidance to all departments to ensure safety is integrated into all aspects of the operation, and maintain an effective safety analysis program.

The Director of Occupational Safety is right under and reports to the VP of Safety. He is primarily responsible for safety at all locations. He conducts audits, investigation, and monitoring of records, in addition to ensuring all personnel, equipment, and facilities are in compliance with airline policies and procedures and with applicable local, state, and federal regulations. Basically, this is the right hand guy, or "workhorse", of the VP of Safety.

The Manager of Station and Facility Safety is the subject matter expert on facility safety, and serves to reduce industrial injuries and accidents in the workplace. He reports directly to the Director of Occupational Safety, and uses many of the same tools(audits, accident investigations, job hazard analysis) as that Director does to ensure everything and everyone is in compliance with regulations. This position would be responsible for an individual facility, which makes it different and fall underneath the Director of Occupational Safety who is in charge of all facilities.

The previous 3 positions have an overall responsibility to the facilities they are over in regards to safety. Here is a model of the safety input process, and how a company can benefit from it.

Within the facility, certain safety management positions are created. One such position is the Manager of Safety Training and Awards, which is responsible for resolving deficiencies in employee training as they relate to safety. In addition to the standard of ensuring safety training is in compliance with local, state, and federal regulations, this position is also responsible for recognizing individuals and the groups they represent for their contribution to the airline safety program and will assemble and publish the quarterly airline safety magazine.

The Manager of Cabin Safety and Health oversees cabin safety and health issues within a safety organization. He works to reduce injuries to the cabin crew, flight-deck crew, and ground crew while working in the aircraft's cabin. He makes recommendations for change, and ensures personnel, equipment, and aircraft are in compliance with applicable regulations and airline policies and procedures.

This list of positions could go on for much longer. It is more prudent to say that safety manager positions in airline safety are put in place to ensure an overall safe operation. Whether it is the VP overseeing the entire safety of the airlines operations, or the manager recognizing and awarding safe performance on the line, it is important to have these positions to support a safe workplace.

References

"Safety Management Systems - Information Session - Presentations - Day 1 - Safety Management Systems (SMS) - Information Session - Safety Management Systems (SMS) - Information Session - Safety Management Systems (SMS) - Technical Program Evaluation and Co-ordination - Standards - Aviation Safety - Air Transportation - Transport Canada." Welcome Page | Page D'accueil. Web. 14 May 2010.

Wells, Alexander T., and Clarence C. Rodrigues. Commercial Aviation Safety. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print

OSHA and EPA regulations

To define their direct impacts, OSHA and the EPA can initiate regulations and take recommendations from other government agencies. Proposals are listed in the Federal Register to allow comments from the public. Agencies then review the comments, make changes where appropriate, and issue a final rule. These regulations often effect ground operations and their economical accomplishment.

With EPA Entering the Picture, Deicing Gets More Complex

This is the headline from an aviation safety article in Aviation Today. This is a great example of how ground safety operations can have an economic impact. The chemicals which are used in deicing, such as ethelyne glycol or propylene glycol, are mandated by the FAA. It was realized that those chemicals, when combined with storm water runoff, create water-quality issues in the receiving waters. So in these cases, the airlines are the ones doing the deicing, and the airport authorities are going to have to deal with the runoff. As such, the cost has to be absorbed by someone. Airport authorities have to make sure that the runoff is either contained or treated before it mixes with storm water. They would probably impose restrictions on airlines or companies providing deicing to accomplish this. Some airlines have already taken initiative to make technological and process innovations to reduce the amount of runoff from planes or runways that needs to be treated or collected.

Another area of economic impact to general aviation is the use of lead in avgas. It was noted that 34,000 tons of lead were emitted between 1970 and 2007 from 14.6 gallons of leaded avgas consumption. As AOPA states, 100LL avgas is necessary for safe flight in general aviation aircraft. Any alternative fuels may compromise safety, have an economic impact(higher manufacturing costs), and be subject to the FAA approval process. Current initiatives are being proposed with the public having 60 days to make comments on the proposals as noted in the process description above.

OSHA has the responsibility to make sure that work environments are safe and workers are provided with the necessary equipment and area to achieve safety. One area of OSHA is the Voluntary Protection Program(VPP). This is a status that is granted to a company has engendered a culture of health and safety within an organization, a self-policing philosophy that allows OSHA to cut back on its direct oversight. Specifically, this is when management accepts the OSHA responsibility to implement an effect workplace health and safety program that meets an established set of criteria. The economic impact is that as a result of a safer workplace, fewer workers have to miss work from work related injuries. Delta Airlines has implemented the system, and, in 2002, TechOps beat its OSHA recordable injury reduction goal by 23%, and its lost workday cases reduction goal by 33%. They had 175 fewer injuries in 2002 than in the previous year. So, the overall economic impact to their company, $1.2 million in savings per year.




"Aviation Today :: With EPA Entering the Picture, Deicing Gets More Complex." Breaking News and Analysis on Aviation Today. 17 Apr. 2006. Web. 15 May 2010.

Aviation and Airport Development Law : Aviation Lawyer & Attorney : Chevalier Allen & Lichman Law Firm : Airport Development, Environmental Law. Web. 15 May 2010.

Safety in Ground Operations

There are many programs designed to ensure the safety of the many diverse ground operations. The areas covered here will be: hangars, ramp operations, specialized services, and runways.
Pictured to the right is a United Airlines regional jet that was being taxied around the airport for maintenance and the mechanics lost situational awareness and ran over a maintenance truck. Had they been using a wing walker, or had a ground spotter, or follow me truck, this could have been avoided.

Many things can contribute to an accident/incident. The most significant human factors issues for ground damages are:

-Time pressures/task saturation

-Skill based errors-over/under skilled

-Customer satisfaction

-Direct rule based violations

-Environmental i.e:illuminations, visual obstructions, noise levels

-Communications breakdowns

-Loss of situational awareness

Hangars are covered by many state, federal, and local building codes which served to protect people in and around them and make them safe. Such things as fire extinguishers, hoses, sprinkler control valves, and fire alarms are required. Many hangars contain hazardous or flammable substances. These must be handled with care and properly stored and disposed of. The CFR has guidelines which define this in depth, and give very specific directions on what is allowed. Other areas that may not be in the common hangar include: material handling equipment such as cranes, fork trucks, and hoist units. These may be seen more in a maintenance hangar, and not a storage hangar. Still, the guidelines are necessary to ensure the operation is safe.

Ramp operations are one of the most accident prone areas in ground operations. When talking about ramp operations, this includes: taxiing, towing, chocking, parking, tie-down, aircraft refueling, baggage and cargo handling, and routine checks and maintenance. This area is of importance to airlines, as an estimated $5 billion a year in damage costs is due to ramp damage, typically collisions between ground service vehicles and parked aircraft or jet ways. According to the International Air Transport Association, about 92% of incidents can be traced to lack of adequate training and airfield congestion. To minimize the risk, such initiates being enacted are: making a significant investment in airfield lighting thus increasing the safety of ramp operations at night, mandatory reflective outwear(vest) program increasing visibility of ramp workers, Ramp Safety Hotline giving ramp workers a place to call in their issues and concerns, Ramp Safety DVD(pictured right) with formal training, and publications including monthly safety newsletters, safety alerts notices, and safety posters promoting safe practices. All of these efforts serve to further make ramp operations more safe.

Specialized services include aviation fuel handling, aircraft rescue and fire fighting, and deicing. Fuel handling procedures are covered in the CFR, with detailed guidelines to protect the environment and the workers handling the fuel. Major concerns with fuel handling are:
-Health hazards to fuelers
-Fuel contamination
-Explosions and fires during fueling or fuel transfer
-Explosions and fires during fuel tank repair
-Hazards from spills
Procedures, such as the following, have been developed to minimize the risk in fuel handling and transfer: Connect the grounding cable, avoid pumping contaminated fuels, and reduce flow rates to allow static charge to dissipate. Sparks are another chief concern when handling fuel. Batteries should never be serviced during fueling operations. Ground power units should be as far away as possible from fueling points. Finally, no smoking rules are strictly enforced. No welding, cutting, or hot work should be conducted within 35 feet of fueling, and fuel pits should be located at least 50 feet away from a terminal building.

Finally, runway incursions are predicted to be the cause of nearly 800 jet aviation related deaths over the next decade. This makes it a top concern when considering airfield and passenger safety. One area where air traffic control has made significant improvement is with the new ASDE(Airport Surface Detection Equipment) system. This enables aircraft to be tracked via ground radar, as long as they are taxiing with their transponder on. In addition to ASDE, there is AMASS(Airport Movement Area Safety System) which enhances ASDE by providing controllers with aural and visual alerts to potential collisions on the runway. Some of the other control strategies implemented under the National Blueprint for Runway Safety are training, technology, communications, procedures, signs, data, and local solutions. Precision runway monitoring helps provide faster radar data than existing surveillance radars. Using this system, controllers are able to monitor the progress of each aircraft in real time and issue directions as required to maintain safe aircraft separation. These systems and others help minimize runway incursions.

NBAA - National Business Aviation Association. Web. 5 May 2010. .

http://www.nbaa.org/ops/safety/hangar/aircraft-ground-damage-prevention.ppt

Wells, Alexander T., and Clarence C. Rodrigues. Commercial Aviation Safety. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Print

"Airport Ramp Safety." A.P.S. Safety - Training & Consulting. Web. 03 May 2010.