Lessons Learned from Airport Safety Management Systems Pilot Studies (2012)

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40 BACKGROUND The FAA states in its NPRM, Safety Promotion includes processes and procedures used to create an environment where safety objectives can be achieved. Safety promotion is essential to create an organiza- tion’s positive safety culture. Safety culture is characterized by knowledge and understanding of an organization’s SMS, effective communications, competency in job responsibili- ties, ongoing training, and information sharing. Safety Pro- motion elements include training programs, communication of critical safety issues, and confidential reporting systems (FAA 2010). ICAO discusses in the SMM that many of the processes and procedures specified in the Safety Policy and objectives and Safety Risk Management and Safety Assurance components of the SMS provide the struc- tural building blocks of an SMS. However, the organization must also set in place processes and procedures that allow for communication among operational personnel and with the organization’s management. Organizations must make every effort to communicate their objectives, as well as the current status of the organization’s activities and significant events. Likewise, organizations must supply a means of upward com- munication in an environment of openness (ICAO 2009). With regard to training, ICAO further clarifies that safety training within an organization must ensure that per- sonnel are trained and competent to perform their safety man- agement duties. The SMS manual (SMSM) should specify initial and recurrent safety training standards for operational personnel, managers and supervisors, senior managers and the accountable executive. The amount of safety training should be appropriate to the individual’s responsibility and involve- ment in the SMS. The SMSM should also specify safety train- ing responsibilities, including contents, frequency, validation and safety training records management (ICAO 2009). CHAPTER CONTENTS This chapter focuses on the training and safety cultural aspects of the SMS promotion component. Questions asked of airports focused primarily on training program develop- ment, number and type of staff trained, and plans for ten- ant orientation or training programs. Cultural challenges and types of promotional activities were collected as part of the discussions and are also presented in this chapter. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS As described by ICAO, the safety promotion component of SMS includes “a) training and education, including safety competency; and b) safety communication” (ICAO 2009). ICAO addresses culture outside of the specific safety pro- motion component and applies culture broadly to the entire SMS set of activities, data collection, and reporting pro- cesses, stating: Culture can be described in the simplest terms as a “col- lective programming of the mind.” Culture influences the values, beliefs, and behavior that we share with the other members of our various social groups. Culture binds us together as members of groups and provides clues and cues as to how to behave in both normal and unusual situations. Culture sets the rules of the game, or the framework for all our interpersonal interactions. It is the sum total of the way people conduct their affairs in a particular social milieu and provides a context in which things happen. In terms of the management of safety, understanding culture is as important as understanding context, since culture is an important deter- minant of human performance (ICAO 2009). Analysis for this chapter primarily focused on training pro- grams with the interview survey containing six questions relating to training and two to safety culture. Training As airports begin to develop SMS training programs for their staff and possibly tenants, training scope, curriculum, deliv- ery methods, duration, and recurrence could be considered as part of the SMS development process. A set of questions, including a question related to the training or orientation of airport tenants, was compiled to collect information on training programs and staff participation. Figures 23 and 24 present responses to questions related to developing training programs and training staff. Of the airports surveyed (Figure 23), 11 responded that they had developed a training program for staff, 12 replied that they had not developed a training program, and the remaining three airports stated that they were in the process of building their training program. Within the list of eligible expenses for the implementation study, the FAA specifically included (1) costs associated with developing training materials for SRM or safety assurance techniques and (2) costs associated with contractor-assisted training for SRM or safety assurance techniques. Not all SMS chapter six SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND SAFETY PROMOTION

41 implementation study airports developed training programs or delivered training to staff. As presented in Figure 24, 15 airports trained staff in one or more courses or instructional programs, four airports indicated they have not trained staff yet, and seven responded they had no program in place yet. Airports provided a list of training modules and curricu- lum that they are developing for internal staff, which is pre- sented in Table 23. The curriculum includes orientation and management training and specific technical courses, such as root cause analysis and human factors. The top four courses reported are 1. Safety Orientation; 2. Introduction for Managers; 3. Safety Assurance, Hazard Identification, and Audits; and 4. Safety Risk Assessments and Safety Risk Management The 15 airports that replied that they trained staff (Fig- ure 24) were asked to provide a list of types of staff trained. Figure 25 represents the types of staff who attended training. The largest percentage of staff trained was cited as “vari- ous airport personnel.” However, no further questions were asked on what was meant by this term. Because of the potential challenges in developing a train- ing program, airports were asked if they encountered chal- lenges and to provide a description of the concerns. Figure 26 presents a list of challenges with time restrictions and fund- ing as the top two responses. Many airports commented that they were planning on developing in-house training, had engaged the consultant to provide or coordinate the training, or had sent staff to external academic or industry specialized training courses. Responses to the question regarding tenant training or pro- viding orientation to tenants are reflected in Figure 27. Nearly one-third of the responses (eight) reported that tenant training is still under discussion. Four airports replied that a training overview would be part of the SMS and another three indi- cated they would include the training as part of other exist- ing training programs (i.e., security identification display area FIGURE 23 Training programs for staff. FIGURE 24 Staff trained as part of SMS.

42 training), and another four stated they would wait for the regu- latory requirement before developing a SMS training program. Safety Culture ICAO provides guidance regarding safety culture in the SMM, stating that The attempts to protect safety information and the reporter from punishment were developed using the term culture, for TABLE 23 TYPES OF TRAINING CURRICULUM PLANNED OR DELIVERED Sa fe ty O ri en ta tio n In tr o fo r M an ag er s S af et y A ss ur an ce , H az ar d ID , A ud it s SR A /S R M C ou rs e H um an F ac to rs R oo t C au se S M S M an ua l O ve rv ie w O ut lin ed O nl y N ot D ep lo yi ng T ra in in g Class I X X X X Class I X X X X Class I X X Class I X X X Class I X X X Class I X Class I X X X X X X X Class I X Class I X X Class I X X Class I X X X X Class II X Class II X X Class II X Class IV X X Class IV X Count 10 7 7 6 4 2 2 2 FIGURE 25 Staff trained by department. example, “non-punishing culture,” “non-blame/blame-free culture,” and lately “safety culture” or “just culture.” The word culture does have specific meanings and the context in which it is used in this case can lead to misperception and misunderstanding. Nevertheless, safety and just culture have become broadly accepted, although not universally defined, terms to describe the context in which safety practices are fos- tered within an organization. These safety practices include a series of organizational processes, procedures and policies that aim to achieve a specific outcome, the identification of hazards. The processes (effective safety reporting), proce- dures (hazard reporting system) and policies (Safety Policy, fair treatment of reporters, etc.) are complex, specific ideas and behaviors that can be packaged in such a way as to make them easily understandable to a wide audience and therefore easier to apply on a large scale. However, their substance and application will reflect the culture, in the true sense of the word, of the state or organization that develops them. Global adoption of a single, common safety or just culture could therefore be considered discriminatory, perhaps even judg- mental, if the local culture is not the same (ICAO 2009). Airports were posed two questions relating to their expe- riences with regard to cultural challenges. A compiled list of challenges is presented in Figure 28, with “Buy-in” and “Reluctance to Change” as the top two reported challenges. To encourage staff and tenants to engage in the SMS, air- ports used a variety of promotional methods, such as commit- tee meetings, training, and face-to-face communication, as a means to educate and increase awareness. Table 24 provides an overview of each of the types of techniques by airport class. LESSONS LEARNED According to the Patrick Hudson paper on Safety Management and Safety Culture, Hudson states that “Advanced safety cul- tures can only be built upon a combination of a top-down com- mitment to improve and the realization that the workforce is where that improvement has to take place. The workforce has to be trusted and has a duty to inform. What this means in prac- tice is that in an advanced safety culture it becomes possible

43 FIGURE 26 Training challenges. FIGURE 27 Tenant training plans. FIGURE 28 Cultural challenges. M ee tin gs /C om m itt ee s Fa ce to F ac e C om m un ic at io n T ra in in g/ E du ca tio n Pr om ot io na l C am pa ig ns /E ve nt s R ep or tin g M an ag em en t N ew sl et te rs H ot lin e Class I 10 0 5 8 4 3 2 3 Class II 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 Class IV 1 1 1 3 3 1 0 0 Count 12 7 7 5 3 2 1 1 TABLE 24 TYPES OF SAFETY CULTURE PROMOTIONAL METHODS to reap extra benefits, beyond having fewer accidents, such as reductions in the audit frequency” (Hudson n.d.). As documented in the ACRP Guidebook, Culture is equivalent to a set of shared values held by the employees, the management, and the airport organization in general. Improving culture therefore means changing these values. However, changing individual and organizational val- ues is not easy. Indeed, attempting to act directly on values is most likely to be met with cynicism, resistance and, ultimately, failure. Changing values is a long process that can only be achieved by first changing practices. Therefore, safety culture promotion efforts might focus on altering practices, in combi- nation with a demonstrable and visible change in management

44 Culture The two questions asked of airports do not provide a thor- ough assessment of airport approaches to safety culture; however, responses relating to cultural challenges indicate that airports were aware of and addressed cultural aspects of the SMS program and had developed strategies to increase or change safety culture awareness. Methods included face- to-face communication and training as means to engage staff and tenants in conversations relating to culture. Lesson Learned: Staff buy-in and reluctance to change can affect implementation of a SMS; early activities such as direct communication and training are documented means to promote SMS. attitude and leadership. Establishing an effective SMS will assist in this process, but it is not sufficient. Training A variety of training programs were developed by airports and consultants to address the new or expanded skills needed for staff and management to implement and operate the SMS. Plans for airports to provide SMS training or orientation for tenants are unclear at this time for many airports. Lesson Learned: Training programs are scalable to each air- port and operation, including staff skills development based on positions and additional duties assigned.