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