Who Needs a Safety Manager Anyway?

A widely accepted notion is the premise that human’s when given the opportunity to make a decision will take the path of least resistance to facilitate the means of their decision. In other words, we choose the easiest path to get to where we are going. This simple equation is prevalent in every aspect of our lives. In a lot of professions this thought process can get you hurt or worse. No where is that more readily evident as in Aviation. Certainly on the ground but most pronounced in the air.

To mitigate short cuts and ensure management and personnel think before they act a conscience working on their behalf has to be involved. On occasion management or personnel may charge ahead, not recklessly thinking, rather, not thinking, about the consequences’ of their path of least resistance. To provide the insight and caution needed when this happens an entity is required, someone who is willing to, given the facts, analyze issues coupled with the capability to design an alternate course of action , one that will provide for a sound and safe outcome. And this entity shall be called the Safety Manager, Safety Officer, Safety Person, Safety Guru and so on. This individual needs to work, much like the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as an independent agent while providing support to not only management but the line organization as well.

Areas of responsibility should cover but are not limited to:
Occupational Safety
Occupational Medicine
Industrial Safety
Industrial Hygiene
Industrial Health
Environmental Safety
Fire Protection
Reliability
Maintainability
Quality Assurance

Not only for the protection of personnel, equipment and the customer it serves any air carrier not responsible enough to place Safety at it’s forefront should not be in the business. An industry without a Safety Manager and most specifically the aviation community is nothing more than a accident waiting to happen. No one wants to be on the airplane where safety is nothing more than lip service. We already know that being safe saves lives, prevents injuries and saves untold cost in damages to equipment so when it comes time to compensate the individuals who execute the Safety Program what are they worth? For me the answer is easy, how much is your family member worth?