NZALPA has received an invitation from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) inviting a representative to a Sector Risk Profile workshop in October.
The invitation, from the CAA’s Deputy Director General Aviation Steve Moore and Deputy Director Air Transport and Airworthiness Mark Hughes comes after NZALPA advocate Tom Buckley approached the CAA about being more involved with identifying risks within the general aviation (GA) sector.
The Sector Risk Profile Follow-up workshop will focus on helicopter and small aeroplane operations and how to minimise risks as part of their safety management system (SMS).
The CAA conveys that by addressing individual elements of risk within a sector the overall accident rate and costs to the sector can be reduced. Sector risk profiles will also help to inform participants and the CAA where to target its activity and resources.
“Sector risk profiling drives continuous improvement of safety benefits within the sectors. Managing risk reduces uncertainty associated with safety and business performance and gives the CAA and the sector greater freedom to plan and use resources for innovation and measured risk management,” CAA documents state.
Buckley is looking forward to working collaboratively with the CAA and other industry stakeholders to review and improve the safety of the helicopter and small plane pilots, and work on ways in which new or enhanced methods can be implemented to manage these risks.
“NZALPA has a lot of experienced helicopter and fixed-wing pilots in our membership, and it’s important that their opinions on risks are heard,” Buckley said.
“I will be liaising with our members so we can take informed input to the workshop, and we will be engaging with NZALPA helicopter pilots throughout the Sector Risk Profile project. Improving the safety of the working pilots and the travelling public is always a priority.”
The Sector Risk Profile includes phase one – review and update of risks relevant to the sector through a survey and data analysis – and phase two, which involves further engagement between stakeholders and CAA to identify risk owners and possible controls and treatments.
Work will conclude with a treatment action plan made available to all organisations in the sector.
At the time of writing, a survey was being distributed to sector stakeholders. NZALPA will keep you updated in future editions of Uplink.
For more information about the Sector Risk Profile project, visit http://www.caa.govt.nz/safety-info/safety-reports/sector-risk-profiles/
