Just Culture - ES2‐WS2 - SMS from the local perspective to the FAB

Overview

For a number of years now, Just Culture has increasingly occupied the agenda’s of aviation safety experts, investigators and rule makers at national and international level Air Transport and ATM operators as well as International Organisations such as ICAO, EUROCONTROL and the EU.

Just Culture addresses the often complicated relationship between the propagation of aviation safety and the administration of Justice at national level. These are two distinct worlds that seldom meet. One is by nature international, dynamic and very sensitive to safety; the other is by nature national, resistant to progressive change and very sensitive to the rule of law. No wonder that their interaction or perhaps more correctly the lack of it, generates difficult and often passionate discussions with associated allegations on the “criminalisation” of aviation.

In Europe, the inclusion of a Just Culture key performance indicator in the EU Performance Regulation and a number of Just Culture based practices in the recently enacted EU Accident and Incident Regulation has put the topic firmly in the public domain. Gradually, a dialogue with the national judiciary is being developed, inter‐alia, through the activities of the EUROCONTROL Just Culture Task Force.

Nobody can claim automatic criminal immunity in any civilized country. But it is true that a number of cases raise questions on the relevance and motives of some criminal prosecution and court cases. Accidents and serious incidents almost always occur as the result of a series of events that lead to disastrous results. When mistakes are involved they can often be labeled as “honest” mistakes that would not qualify as criminal behaviour.

At the Corporate level, in Air Navigation Services Providers and Air Transport Operators in Europe and beyond, Just Culture principles are routinely tested in the context of daily Safety Management System (SMS) activities. However, an SMS will not assure safety unless it is tailored to meet specific operational demands and accords with accepted and regulated standards. All staff involved in the provision of ATM services need to be properly aware how the SMS and its associated rules and legal frame work within which they operate, applies to them in the context of Just Culture.

In particular, they need to understand where the boundaries are between ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ acts. If Just Culture principles of impartiality and fairness are to be applied then many organisations still need to be addressing the following: ‐ Who draws the lines and when are they crossed? ; ‐ Is an organisation well prepared to identify honest mistakes? ‐ Are staff members adequately informed about consequences of infringement of rules or behaviour of negligence/omissions?

To establish a credible and effective Just Culture, both for interaction at corporate level and with the national judiciary, organisations must clearly define roles/responsibilities, the procedures that will be followed, the judicial interfaces and the human resources necessary to fulfil the stated ambition. Dialogue with social partners and unions is essential.