CANSO: leading further improvements in safety in air traffic management

CANSO, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation, has announced the publication of the CANSO Safety Management System Implementation Guide which will make a major contribution to improving safety across the air traffic management (ATM) industry. The work to implement safety management systems is one of five priority areas on which CANSO will work with ICAO, States and industry partners to improve safety in air traffic management, the others being to reduce runway incursions and excursions; to improve incident reporting by protecting sources of information; to establish globally harmonised safety performance indicators; and to improve the exchange of safety information and data across the air transport industry.

Speaking at the annual CANSO Global ATM Safety Conference in Bangkok, hosted by AEROTHAI, CANSO Director General, Jeff Poole, said, “CANSO takes very seriously its responsibilities on safety. Improving safety performance is a key element of CANSO’s strategic plan for air traffic management, Vision 2020. This guides CANSO’s work programme on safety by: being forward thinking about future safety challenges; sharing best practice; and producing excellent guidance and training. Today’s publication of the CANSO Safety Management System Implementation Guide will make a major contribution to improving safety across the ATM industry. CANSO has made good progress on its five safety priorities but we are stepping up our efforts with ICAO, States and industry partners to raise the bar on safety even higher.”

The five priorities are:

Implementing Effective Safety Management Systems. CANSO today published the CANSO Safety Management System Implementation Guide which provides a comprehensive, step-by-step standard that CANSO Members can use to implement their safety management system. It complements the CANSO Standard of Excellence in Safety Management Systems (SMS) and provides detailed guidance to achieve increasing levels of safety maturity. The Guide and is fully aligned with ICAO’s Standards and Recommended Practices as contained in Annex 19 (of the Convention on International Civil Aviation) on safety management. CANSO will work closely with ICAO to ensure that the principles of safety management are incorporated fully in Annex 19, so that States implement this fully, and that ICAO recognises the CANSO Standard of Excellence in Safety Management Systems as an appropriate framework for the implementation and maturity of safety management systems.

Reducing Runway Incidents. CANSO is working on reducing runway incidents through a number of programmes and initiatives alongside ICAO and industry partners. The CANSO Runway Safety Initiative launched in 2013 provides practical tools to improve safety with check lists for controllers and pilots; the runway safety maturity checklist; and a mobile app. In addition, CANSO and its Members will support ICAO’s Runway Safety Go-Team missions to promote the establishment of local Runway Safety Teams.

Improving incident reporting by protecting sources of information. Safety incident reports submitted by staff are a valuable source of information for learning safety lessons, but to ensure that as many reports as possible are received, organisations must foster a culture in which staff know they will be treated fairly when they do report. In 2014, CANSO produced the CANSO Guidelines on Just Culture in 2014, which provides guidance to CANSO Members on fostering a just culture in their organisations. CANSO will also work with ICAO to try to ensure that regulators and legislators establish legislation and regulations to protect safety information and their sources.

Establishing globally harmonised safety performance indicators. The safety data CANSO has been collecting for the past ten years is vital for measuring safety performance and identifying problem areas. CANSO is urging ICAO to work with it to establish globally harmonised safety performance indicators with effective metrics and consistent definitions. CANSO is happy to share its expertise to develop a common taxonomy, supported by definitions and guiding interpretation data that would be applied consistently across the safety performance indicators being developed by the various ICAO safety initiatives.

Exchange of safety information. CANSO wishes to cooperate even more effectively with ICAO to exchange safety information including progressing the development of an aviation safety intelligence model, as outlined in the ICAO-CANSO Memorandum of Cooperation.

Poole concluded, “CANSO has made great progress in developing and implementing success-based safety initiatives in air traffic management but the nature of safety management is that there will always be scope for further improvements and new challenges. We know what further improvements in safety in air traffic management need to be developed and implemented and we are determined to make them happen. CANSO and its Members will work tirelessly with ICAO, States and our industry partners to ensure that safety is not only our highest priority but also an obvious reality.”

Download the speech of CANSO Director General, Jeff Poole, to the CANSO Global ATM Safety Conference 2015.