In the interest of the debate, I offer up this extract:
"Aviation is remarkable for the giant technological leaps it has made over the last century. This progress would not have been possible without parallel achievements in the control and reduction of aviation’s safety hazards. Given the many ways that aviation can result in injury or harm, those involved with aviation have been preoccupied with preventing accidents since the earliest days of flying. Through the disciplined application of best safety management practices, the frequency and severity of aviation occurrences have declined significantly.
CONCEPT OF SAFETY
In order to understand safety management, it is necessary to consider what is meant by “safety”. Depending on one’s perspective, the concept of aviation safety may have different connotations, such as:
a) zero accidents (or serious incidents), a view widely held by the travelling public;
b) the freedom from danger or risks, i.e. those factors which cause or are likely to cause harm;
c) the attitude towards unsafe acts and conditions by employees (reflecting a “safe” corporate culture);
d) the degree to which the inherent risks in aviation are “acceptable”;
e) the process of hazard identification and risk management; and
f) the control of accidental loss (of persons and property, and damage to the environment).
While the elimination of accidents (and serious incidents) would be desirable, a one hundred per cent safety rate is an unachievable goal. Failures and errors will occur, in spite of the best efforts to avoid them. No human activity or human-made system can be guaranteed to be absolutely safe, i.e. free from risk. Safety is a relative notion whereby inherent risks are acceptable in a “safe” system.
Safety is increasingly viewed as the management of risk.
Safety is considered to have the following meaning:
Safety is the state in which the risk of harm to persons or of property damage is reduced to, and maintained at or below, an acceptable level through a continuing process of hazard identification and risk management."
Jim