subject: Aviation Safety Management System [print this page] This Aviation safety management system is a starting point for any airport in the world who wishes to prevent both injuries to staff and provide improved passenger safety in their workplace; it is based on a simple approach to achieve best practice.
The Prevention Tree
The Prevention Tree represents our current vision of a good airport safety management system.Using the analogy of the tree, we can describe the essential elements of a health and safety management system.A tree may have many leaves but it will not thrive unless it has a healthy root system, trunk and branches.The roots of a successful safety management system are leadership and commitment by top management in the airport, and the workplace culture and values that reinforce health and safety in all the airport operations.At the base of the tree is a health and safety policy, which lays the function for the program by expressing the commitment of top management to excellence in health and safety performance.The trunk of the treewhat holds everything else upis a system for managing health and safetyfor setting goals and making sure that everyone knows their responsibilities and is held accountable for them.
The branches of the tree are the functions that ensure employee participation and effective communications and training, and that recognize and motivate good health and safety performance for both staff and patients.The leaves are the activities performed in the workplace to anticipate, recognize, assess and control health and safety hazards, and to manage disability if injury and illness do occur.
When all these elements are in place and functioning well, an airport will be successful in creating safer, healthier, workplaces to the benefit of all.
And the tree will bear fruitfruit that includes healthy and safe workers, passengers who are confident of achieving only the very best of service, good employee morale, lower costs, and a more successful business.
Best Practice
Airports that have benchmarked their health and safety management systems by independent audit have consistently identified many of these elements identified on the prevention tree as essential to the implementation of their safety system.The manuals can help you benchmark your airport health and safety processes, procedures and practices and participate in a benchmarking initiative with other airports internationally.
The ideas we share in this safety management system will help your whole airport organization to continuously improve.
One thing we have learned is that a best practice is not a magic bullet.Any practice can only be successful when it is appropriate to the airport situation and implemented with commitment.
This model provides a framework for any airport or organization to build a successful health & safety management system which will ultimately lead to a quality grading in the 5 Star Health & Safety Management System.
How to use the Hospital Safety Management System
These two manuals describe a number of elements that correspond with the health and safety essentials depicted by the prevention tree. Each element in each of the manuals contains three parts.The first part includes examples of practices documented in case studies, health and safety journals, and implemented by top airport performers audited by Safety Projects International Inc. The second part includes a series of questions about your airports practices on that element.The third
part asks a few questions about your continuous improvement efforts.
The manuals are designed for flexibility; browse it in whatever sequence interests you.Complete any or all of the elements. Do it in short sittings, use it for workshop or training material, do it all at once, divide among staff teams and share responseswhatever suits your pace and style.
Airport Safety Management System elements
Based on our initial research we have identified some of the key elements required for an effective airport health and safety management system.In the future, your airport may expand the two manuals to include more of the sub-elements to incorporate specific practices and procedures for passengers developed in your airport.
Some initial questions about the Aviation health & safety management system
If you have taken a decision to improve health and safety in your airport within the last 10 years, what were the best things you did? Which are the most important activities that have bore the most fruit to help you improve your airport health and safety management system?
Which of the above elements do you think are most responsible for your airports success?Which ones do you think your airport or organization is particularly excelled at?
Should users wish to comment on any aspect of this Aviation safety management system, or would like to view any of the other audit tools we can be contacted at the following co-ordinates:
