AIB’s Oduselu canvasses partnership, co-operation on air safety

By Kenneth Ehigiator
Commissioner, Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), Engr. Sam Oduselu, has canvassed partnership and co-operatives among stakeholders in the aviation sector to raise safety level in air transportation in the country.

According to him, guaranteeing safety in air transport has gone beyond regulatory enforcement of compliance by operators and other players in the sector, Oduselu, who spoke at the lecture, “Jerry Agbeyegbe: Partnership in Aviation safety Promotion,” organised in honour of the late Executive Director of Nigerian Aviation safety Initiative (NASI), Capt. Jerry Agbeyegbe, who was killed on October 12, 2004.

He said partnership and co-operative approach has become more desirable now than ever before in advancing the frontiers of safety.
He identified safety management system (SMS) as a tool for achieving a sustainable level of safety in aviation.

Oduselu said: “Air safety is now a common concern for all. Contributing to this also is the linkage between aviation and the elementary considerations of humanity. The public is interested and the media has become more scrutinizing and unsparing when it comes to aviation safety. This is a healthy development.
“It is not surprising to note that safety has received a more profound attention globally even as partnership and cooperative approach have become more desirable that ever in advancing its frontiers.

“If safety is so important how then do we know what safety is and how to achieve a high level of safety?   According to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), the global body mandated to regulate and promote aviation business, safety is an acceptable level of risk.
“Risk cannot be absolutely eliminated in aviation business but it can be reduced to an acceptable level.

How do we achieve this level? This can largely be attained when all stakeholders from ICAO to states and their agencies, service providers and employees understand their roles and responsibilities and cooperate with one another to discharge such roles and responsibilities.

“Not left out are Civil Society groups and travelers as well as the media.  Regulation should go beyond enforcing regulatory compliance. Rather we should enthrone partnership and cooperative efforts if the desired level of safety must be attained and the confidence of the travelling public sustained.

The AIB boss noted SMS in aviation had become a sine qua non for safety, especially as most air accidents have been traced to human error and loss of control. Oduseklu, who described accidents as consequences of several causes, which calls for adopting a system that will eliminate, or at least minimize all errors before they graduate to disasters, noted that absence of a good SMS or an effective one could make an operator a risk to itself and the public.

“SMS is a change in the way an organization does its day to day business. A safety culture is a necessary environment for effective implementation of SMS.

“Collection and analysis of safety data and the use of that information for preventing accidents form a platform for air safety improvement.

“The civil societies, unions and the media can help in pushing air safety promotion forward through robust, constructive and sincere public advocacy that puts national and public interest above all other considerations,” he said.