Safety tool a must for aviation industry

Citation

(2004), "Safety tool a must for aviation industry", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 76 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2004.12776cab.010

Safety tool a must for aviation industry

Safety tool a must for aviation industry

Keywords: Safety, Aircraft, Software

The UK Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) Research Management Department has developed a software tool in collaboration with Health and Safety Engineering Consultants Ltd (HSEC) which will help aircraft maintenance companies assess and enhance their safety culture.

Produced with support from industry, the software is called the “Safety Health of Maintenance Engineering” (SHoMe) tool and is available free of charge.

SHoMe measures human factor issues that impact on the quality and reliability of work, regardless of whether staff are engaged in “hands- on” maintenance or not. Among the tools the software provides are: an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses, from strategic to operational level; where to focus specific training programmes or refresher courses; which activities are undertaken successfully and should be sustained or augmented; which activities are causing the company difficulties and should be modified; and how improvements to safety culture will benefit the company over time.

First, questionnaires are completed by technical staff and management. The results are then analysed using SHoMe, which produces a comprehensive review of the company's safety culture. The tool is aimed at medium to large aircraft maintenance organisations, although smaller organisations may also find it useful.

Paul Spooner, Research Project Manager at the CAA, said: “SHoMe is an innovative piece of software that will be of enormous benefit to aircraft maintenance companies. The CAA is confident it will assist organisational safety culture development.”