Lookleft,
In a conversation with a CEO of a large US Based Part 135 Operator who was expounding about how safety conscious his operation was and the very high emphasis it placed upon safety....I let him finish and then asked him what it felt like to be the CEO of a business that had never gone a year without a fatal accident and what did he think when he looked at his Pilots did he ever think about which one was next to die in his employ. To his credit he admitted he was troubled by that sad fact and tried to understand why that sadfactnwas so.....and I believe he was sincere. His background as a helicopter pilot included a serious accident of his own due to a catastrophic failure of an aircraft.
Your point about an Operator's Safety Case is very true....unless the Management is sincerely dedicated and willing and able to spend the money and corporate assets that wonderful Safety Management System that is found in the Files requires.....there is no Safety Program but rather a false facade that looks like one.
The best example of that concept was the City of New Orleans Emergency Management Plan that failed so disastrously when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.
On paper the plan looked great.....the School Bus fleet would be used to evacuate residents ahead. of the Hurricane.....only one Bus was used and it was stolen by a Citizen who used it to do just that.
People coming to the Convention Center would bring three days supply of food, medicines, bedding, and water......that did not happen.
Of course....the City water system failed.....with all that meant to the Thousands of people stranded at the Convention Center and all through the City.